Metapsychical phenomena : methods and observations

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BOSTON
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METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

j4ll rights reserved

METAPSYCHICAL
PHENOMENA

METHODS AND OBSERVATIONS
BY J. MAXWELL

Doctor of Medicine
Deputy-Attorney-General at the Court of Appeal, Bordeaux, France

WITH A PREFACE BY CHARLES RICHET

Member of the Academy of Medicine

Professor of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine, Paris

AND AN INTRODUCTION BY SIR OLIVER LODGE

Also with a New Chapter containing
'a complex case,' by professor RICHET

AND AN ACCOUNT OF

'some recently observed phenomena'

BY THE TRANSLATOR L. I. FINCH

LONDON

DUCKH^ORTH and CO.

3 HENRIETTA STREET, W.C.
1905

NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR

The Translator has to thank sincerely a literary
friend, a well-known English clergyman, who has
been kind enough to revise the translation, and
suggest many improvements.

INTRODUCTION

Asked by my friends in France to introduce the author,
Dr. Maxwell, to English readers, I willingly consented,
for I have reason to know that he is an earnest and
indefatigable student of the phenomena for the investiga-
tion of which the Society for Psychical Research was
constituted ; and not only an earnest student, but a sane
and competent observer, with rather special qualifications
for the task. A gentleman of independent means,
trained and practising as a lawyer at Bordeaux, Deputy
Attorney-General, in fact, at the Court of Appeal, he
supplemented his legal training by going through a full
six years' medical curriculum, and graduated M.D. in
order to pursue psycho-physiological studies with more
freedom, and to be able to form a sounder and more
instructed judgment on the strange phenomena which
came under his notice. Moreover, he was fortunate in
enlisting the services of one who appears to be singularly
gifted in the supernormal direction, an educated and
interested friend, who is anxious to preserve his anony-
mity, but is otherwise willing to give every assistance
in his power towards the production and elucidation of
the unusual things which occur in his presence and
apparently through his agency.

vi METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

In all this they have been powerfully assisted by
Professor Charles Richet, the distinguished physiologist
of Paris, whose name and fame are almost as well known
in this country as in his own, and who gave the special
evening lecture to the British Association on the occa-
sion of its semi-international meeting at Dover in 1899.

In France it so happens that these problems have been
attacked chiefly by biologists and medical men, whereas
in this country they have attracted the attention chiefly,
though not exclusively, of physicists and chemists among
men of science. This gives a desirable diversity to the
point of view, and adds to the value of the work of the
French investigators. Another advantage they possess
is that they have no arriere-pensee towards religion or
the spiritual world. Frankly, I expect they would con-
fess themselves materialists, and would disclaim all sym-
pathy with the view of a number of enthusiasts in this
country, who have sought to make these ill-understood
facts the basis for a kind of religious cult in which faith
is regarded as more important than knowledge, and who
contemn the attitude of scientific men, even of those
few who really seek to observe and understand the
phenomena.

From Dr. Maxwell's observations, so far, there arises
no theory which he feels to be in the least satisfactory :
the facts are recorded as observed, and though theoretical
comments are sometimes attempted in the text, they are
admittedly tentative and inadequate : we know nothing
at present which will suffice to weld the whole together

INTRODUCTION vii

into a comprehensive and comprehensible scheme. But
for the theoretical discussion of such phenomena the
work of Mr. Myers on Human Personality is of course
far more thorough and ambitious than the semi-popular
treatment in the present book. And in the matter of
history also, the English reader, familiar with the writ-
ings of Mr. Andrew Lang and Mr. Podmore, will not
attribute much importance to the few historical remarks
of the present writer. He claims consideration as an
observer of exceptional ability and scrupulous fairness,
and his work is regarded with the greatest interest by
workers in this field throughout the world.

There is one thing which Dr. Maxwell does not do.
He does not record his facts according to the standard
set up by the Society for Psychical Research in this
country : that is to say, he does not give a minute
account of all the details, nor does he relate the precau-
tions taken, nor seek to convince hostile critics that he
has overlooked no possibility, and made no mistakes.
Discouraged by previous attempts and failures in this
direction, he has regarded the task as impossible, and
has not attempted it. He has satisfied himself with
three things : —

I St. To train himself long and carefully as an
observer ;

2nd. To learn from, and be guided by, the pheno-
mena as they occur, without seeking unduly
to coerce them ;

viii METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

3rd. To give a general account of the impression
made upon him by the facts as they ap-
peared.

For the rest, he professes himself indifferent whether
his assertions meet with credence or not. He has done
his best to test the phenomena for himself, regarding
them critically, and not at all in a spirit of credulity ;
and he has endangered his reputation by undertaking
what he regards as a plain duty, that of setting down
under his own name, for the world to accept or reject as
it pleases, a statement of the experiences to which he has
devoted so much time and attention, and of the actuality
of which, though he in no way professes to understand
them, he is profoundly convinced.

Equally convinced of their occurrence is Professor
Richet, who has had an opportunity of observing many
of them, and he too regards them from the same untheo-
retical and empirical point of view ; but he has explained
his own attitude in a Preface to the French edition, as
Dr. Maxwell has explained his in ' Preliminary Remarks,'
— both of which are here translated — so there is no need
to say more ; beyond this : —

The particular series of occurrences detailed in these
pages I myself have not witnessed. I may take an
opportunity of seeing them before long ; but though
that will increase my experience, it will not increase my
conviction that things like some of these can and do
occur, and that any other patient explorer who had the

INTRODUCTION ix

same advantages and similar opportunity for observation,
would undergo the same sort of experience, that is to
say, would receive the same sensory impressions, however
he might choose to interpret them.

That is what the scientific world has gradually to
grow accustomed to. These things happen under
certain conditions, in the same sense that more familiar
things happen under ordinary conditions. What the
conditions are that determine the happening is for future
theory to say.

Dr. Maxwell is convinced that such things can happen
without anything that can with any propriety whatever
be called fraud ; sometimes under conditions so favour-
able for observation as to preclude the possibility of
deception of any kind. Some of them, as we know
well, do also frequently harppen under fraudulent and
semi-fraudulent conditions ; but those who take the
easy line of assuming that hyper-ingenious fraud and
extravagant self-deception are sufficient to account for
the whole of the facts, will ultimately, I think, find
themselves to have been deceived by their own a priori
convictions. Nevertheless we may agree that at present
the Territory under exploration is not yet a scientific
State. We are in the pre- Newtonian, possibly the
pre-Copernican, age of this nascent science ; and it is
our duty to accumulate facts and carefully record them,
for a future Kepler to brood over.

What may be likened to the ' Ptolemaic ' view of the
phenomena seems on the whole to be favoured by the

X METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

French observers, viz. that they all centre round living
man, and represent an unexpected extension of human
faculty, an extension, as it were, of the motor and
sensory power of the body beyond its apparent boundary.
That is undoubtedly the first adit to be explored, and it
may turn out to lead us in the right direction ; but it
is premature even to guess what will be the ultimate
outcome of this extra branch of psychological and
physiological study. That sensory perception can extend
to things out of contact with the body is familiar enough,
though it has not been recognised for the senses of touch
or taste. That motor activity should also extend into
a region beyond the customary range of muscular action
is, as yet, unrecognised by science. Nevertheless that is
the appearance.

The phenomena which have most attracted the
attention and maintained the interest of the French
observers, have been just those which convey the above
impression : that is to say, mechanical movements with-
out contact, production of intelligent noises, and either
visible, tangible, or luminous appearances which do not
seem to be hallucinatory. These constantly-asserted,
and in a sense well-known, and to some few people
almost familiar, experiences, have with us hQcn usually
spoken of as ' physical or psycho-physical phenomena.'
In France they have been called ' psychical phenomena,'
but that name is evidently not satisfactory, since that
should apply to purely mental experiences. To call
them 'occult phenomena' is not distinctive, for every-

INTRODUCTION xl

thing is occult until it is explained ; and the business of
science is to contemplate the mixed mass of hetero-
geneous appearances, such as at one time formed all
that was known of Chemistry, for instance, or Electricity,
and evolve from them an ordered scheme of science.

To emphasise the fact that these occurrences are at
present beyond the scheme of orthodox psychology or
psycho-physiology, in somewhat the same way as the
germ of what we now call Metaphysics was once placed
after, or considered as extra to, the course of orthodox
Natural Philosophy or Physics, Professor Richet has
suggested that they be styled 'meta-psychical phenomena,'
and that the nascent branch of science, which he and
other pioneers are endeavouring to found, be called for
the present ' Metapsychics.' Dr. Maxwell concurs in this
•comparatively novel term, and as there seems no serious
•objection to it, the English version of Dr. Maxwell's
record will appear under this title.

The book will be found for the most part eminently
readable — rather an unusual circumstance for a record of
this kind — and the scrupulous fairness with which the
author has related everything he can think of which tells
against the genuineness of the phenomena, is highly to be
commended. Whatever may be thought of the evidence
it is manifestly his earnest wish never to make it appear
to others better than it appears to himself.

If critics attack the book, as they undoubtedly will,
with the objection that though it may contain a mass
of well-attested assertions by a competent and careful

xii METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

observer, yet his observations are set down without the
necessary details on which an outside critic can judge
how far the things really happened, and how far the
observer was deceived — let it be remembered that this is
admitted. Dr. Maxwell's defence is, that to give such
details as will satisfy a hostile critic who was not actually
present is impossible — in that I am disposed to agree
with him — he has therefore not attempted the task ;
and I admit, though I cannot commend, his discretion.

It may be said that the attempt to give every detail
necessarily produces a dreary and overburdened narrative.
So it does. Nevertheless I must urge — as both in accord-
ance with my own judgment of what is fitting, and in
loyalty to the high standard of evidence, and the more
stringent rules of testimony, inaugurated by the wise
founders of the Society for Psychical Research — that
observers should always make an effort to record pre-
cisely every detail of the circumstances of some at least
of these elusive and rare phenomena ; so as to assist in
enabling a fair judgment to be formed by people who
are not too inexperienced in the conditions attending this
class of observation, and at any rate to add to the clear-
ness of their apprehension of the events recorded. The
opportunities for research are not yet ended, however,,
and I may be allowed to express a hope that in the
future something of this kind will yet be done, when
the occasion is favourable, after a study of such a record
as that of the Sidgwick-Hodgson-Davy experiments in
the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. iv.

INTRODUCTION xiil

Our gratitude to Dr. Maxwell would thus be still further
increased.

And now, finally, I must not be understood as making
myself responsible for the contents of the book, nor for
the interjected remarks, nor for the translation. The
author and translator must bear their own responsibility.
My share in the work is limited to expressing my con-
fidence in the good faith of Dr. Maxwell — in his
impartiality and competence, — and while congratulating
him on the favourable opportunities for investigation
which have fallen to his lot, to thank him, on behalf
of English investigators, for the single-minded perti-
nacity and strenuous devotion with which he has pursued
this difficult and still nebulous quest.

Oliver Lodge.

PREFACE

There are books in which the author says so clearly
and in such precise terms what he has to say that
any commentary weakens their import ; and a preface
becomes superfluous, sometimes even prejudicial.

Dr. Maxwell's work belongs to this category. The
author, who has long given himself up to psychology,
has had the opportunity of seeing many interesting
things. He has observed everything with minute care ;
and having well thought out the method of observation,
the consequences, and the nature itself of the phenomena,
he lays bare his facts and deducts therefrom a few simple
ideas, fearlessly, honestly, sine ira nee studio^ before a
public which he hopes to find impartial.

To this same public I address the short introduction,
with which my friend Dr. Maxwell kindly asked me
to head this excellent work.

My advice to the reader may be summed up in a few
words. He must take up this book without prejudice.
He must fear neither that which is new, nor that which
is unexpected. In other words, while preserving the
most scrupulous respect for the science of to-day, he
must be thoroughly convinced that this science, whatever

xvi METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

measure of truth it may contain, is nevertheless terribly
incomplete.

Those imprudent people who busy themselves with
* occult ' sciences are accused of overthrowing Science,
of destroying that bulwark which thousands of toilers,
at the cost of an immense universal effort, have been
occupied in constructing during the last three or four
centuries.

This reproach seems to me rather unjust. No one
is able to destroy a scientific/^*:/.

An electric current decomposes water into one
volume of oxygen and two of hydrogen. This is a
fact which will be true in the eternal future, just as it
has been true in the eternal past. Ideas may perhaps
change on what it is expedient to call electric current,
oxygen, hydrogen, etc. It may be discovered that
hydrogen is composed of fifty diflFerent bodies, that
oxygen is transformed into hydrogen, that the electric
current is a ponderable force or a luminous emission.
No matter what is going to be discovered, we shall
never, in any case, prevent what we call to-day an
electric current from transforming, under certain con-
ditions of combined pressure and temperature, what
we call water into two gases, each having different
properties, gases which are emitted in volumetrical
proportions of 2 to i .

Therefore, there need be no fear, that the invasion
of a new science into the old will upset acquired data,
and contradict what has been established by savants.

PREFACE xvii

Consequently psychical phenomena, however compli-
cated, unforeseen, or appalling we may now and then
imagine them to be, will not subvert any of those facts
which form part of to-day's classical sciences.

Astronomy and physiology, physics and mathematics,
chemistry and zoology, need not be afraid. They
are intangible, and nothing will injure the imposing
assemblage of incontestable facts which constitute them.

But notions, hitherto unknown, may be introduced,
which, without casting doubts upon pristine truths,
may cause new ones to enter their domain, and change,
or even upset, our established notions of things.

The facts may be unforeseen, but they will never
be contradictory.

The history of sciences teaches us, that their bulwarks
have never been overthrown by the inroad of a new
science.

At one time no notion of tubercular infection existed.
We now know that it is transmitted by microbes.
This is a new notion, teeming with important con-
clusions, but it does not invalidate the clinical table
of pulmonary phthisis drawn up by physicians of
other days. The discovery of Hertzian waves has in
nowise shaken Ampere's laws. Newton's and Fresnel's
optics have not been changed into a tissue of errors
because Roentgen rays and luminous vibrations are able
to penetrate opaque bodies. It appears that radium
can throw out unremittingly, without any appreciable

chemical molecular phenomena, great quantities of

b

xviii METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

calorific energy ; nevertheless, we may be quite sure,
that the law of conservation of energy and thermo-
dynamic principles will remain as true now as ever.

Likewise, if the facts called ' occult ' become estab-
lished, as seems more and more probable, we need not
feel anxious as to the fate of classical science. New
and unknown facts, however strange they may be, will
not do away with old established facts.

To take an example from Dr. Maxwell's work, let us
admit that the phenomenon of raps — that is to say,
sonorous vibrations in wood or other substances — is
a real phenomenon, and that, in certain cases, there
are sounds which no mechanical force known to us
can explain, would the science of physics be over-
thrown .^ It would be a new force thrown out on to
wood, etc., exercising its power on matter, but the
old forces would none the less preserve their activity,
and it is even likely that the transmission of vibrations
by means of this new force would be found to be in
obedience to the same laws as those governing the
transmission of other vibrations ; — the temperature, the
pressure, the density of air or wood would continue
to exercise their usual influence. There would be
nothing new, save the existence of a force until then
unknown.

Now, is there any savant worthy of the name who
can affirm, that there are no forces, hitherto unknown,
at work in the world ^

However impregnable Science may be when establish-

PREFACE

XIX

ing facts, it is miserably subject to error when claiming
to establish negations.

Here is a dilemma, which appears to me to be very-
conclusive in that respect : — Either we know all Nature's
forces, or we do not. Now the first alternative is so
ridiculous, that it is really not worth while refuting
it. Our senses are so limited, so imperfect, that the
world slips away from them almost entirely. We may
say it is owing to an accident, that the magnet's colossal
force was discovered, and if hazard had not placed iron
beside the loadstone, we might have always remained
ignorant of the attraction which loadstone exercises
upon iron. Ten years ago no one suspected the exist-
ence of the Roentgen rays. Before photography, no
one knew that light reduces salts of silver. It is
not twenty years since the Hertzian waves were dis-
covered. The property displayed by amber when
rubbed was, until two hundred years ago, all that was
known of that immense force called electricity.

Question a savage — nay a fellah or a moujik — upon
the forces of Nature ! He will not know even the tenth
part of such forces as elementary treatises on physics in
1905 will enumerate. It appears to me that the savants
of to-day, in respect to the savants of the future, stand in
the same inferiority as the moujiks to the professors of
the college of France.

Who then dare be so rash as to say that the treatises
on physics in 2005 will but repeat what is to be found
in the treatises of 1905 ? The probability — the certainty,

XX METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

one might say — is that new scientific data will shortly
spring up out of the darkness, and that most powerful
and altogether unknown forces will be revealed. Our
great-grandchildren will be amazed at the blindness
of our savants, who tacitly profess the immobility of
science.

If science has made such progress of late, it is pre-
cisely because our predecessors were not afraid to make
bold hypotheses, to suppose new forces, demonstrating
their reality by dint of patience and perseverance. Our
strict duty is to do likewise. The savant should be a
revolutionist, and fortunately the time is over when
truth had to be sought in a master's book — magister dixit
— be he Aristotle or Plato. In politics we may be
conservative or progressive ; it is a question of tem-
perament. But when the research of truth is concerned
we must be resolutely and unreservedly revolutionary,
and must consider classical theories — even those which
appear to be the most solid — as temporary hypotheses,
which we must incessantly check and incessantly strive to
overthrow. The Chinese believed that science had been
fixed by their ancestors' sapience ; this example contains
food for meditation.

Moreover — and why not proclaim it loudly — all that
science of which we are so proud, is only knowledge of
appearances. The real nature of things bafiles us. The
innermost nature of laws governing matter, whether
living or inert, is inaccessible to our intelligence. A
stone tossed up into the air falls back again to the earth.

PREFACE xxi

Why ? Newton says through attraction proportional to
bulk and distance. But this law is only the statement of
a fact ; who understands that attractive vibration, which
makes the stone fall ? The fall of a stone is such a
commonplace phenomenon, that it does not astonish us :
but in reality no human intelligence has ever understood
it. It is usual, common, accepted ; but like all Nature's
phenomena without exception it is not understood. After
fecundation an egg becomes an embryon ; we describe
as well as we can the phases of this phenomenon ; but,
in spite of the most minute descriptions, have we under-
stood the evolution of that cellular protoplasm, which is
transformed into a huge, living being .'' What prodigy
is at work in these segmentations? Why do these
granulations crowd together there? Why do they
decay here to form again elsewhere ?

We live in the midst of phenomena and have no
adequate knowledge of any one of them. Even the
simplest phenomenon is most mysterious. What does
the combination of hydrogen with oxygen mean ? Who
has even once been thoroughly able to understand that
word combination, annihilation of the properties of two
bodies by the creation of a third body differing from
the two first. How are we to understand that an atom
is indivisible ; it is constituted of a particle of matter,
yet — even in thought — it cannot be divided !

Therefore it behoves the true savant to be very
modest, yet very bold at the same time : very modest,
for our science is a mere trifle — 'H avOpojmvr) ao^ia

xxii METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

oKiyov TLvos d^id iaTL, kol ouSei/os — very bold, for the
vast regions of worlds unknown lie open before him.

Audacity and prudence : such are the two qualities, in
no wise contradictory, of Dr. Maxwell's book.

Whatever be the fate in store for his ideas — ideas
based upon facts — we may rest assured that the facts,
which he has well observed, will remain, I think I see
here the lineaments of a new science — though only a
crude sketch so far.

Who knows but that physiology and physics may find
herein some precious elements of knowledge? Woe to
the savants who think that the book of Nature is closed,
and that we puny men have nothing more to learn.

Charles Richet.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION BY SIR OLIVER LODGE, ... v

PREFACE BY PROFESSOR CHARLES RICHET, . . xv

PRELIMINARY REMARKS, i

CHAP.

L METHOD:

I. Material Conditions, . . . . . , 33

II. Composition of the Circle, ..... 42
m. Methods of Operation, ..... 48
IV. The Personification, ...... 64

II. RAPS, 72

III. PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS:

I. Parakinesis, ....... 93

II. Telekinesis, ....... 98

IV. LUMINOUS PHENOMENA, 129

V. PSYCHO-SENSORY AND INTELLECTUAL PHENO-
.MENA :

I. Sensory Automatism, . . . . . i8i

II. Crystal Gazing, . . . . . . 184

III. Dreams, Telepathy, ...... 205

xxiv METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

IV. Telsesthesia, . . . . .

V. A Complex Case by Professor Richet,

VI. Motor Automatism, . . . .

VII. Automatic Writing, . . . .

VIII. Phonetic and Mixed Automatisms,

IX. The Psychology of Automatism,

PAGE
21 I
215

238
251

VI. SOME RECENTLY OBSERVED PSYCHICAL PHENO-
MENA. By L. I. Finch,

VII. FRAUD AND ERROR:

I. Fraud,
II. Error,

CONCLUSION,
APPENDICES,

364
386

392

398

PRELIMINARY REMARKS

I HESITATED for a loiig time before deciding to publish
the impressions which ten years of psychical research
have left me. These impressions are so uncertain upon
several points, that I wondered if it were worth while
expressing in book form the few and sparse conclusions
I am able to formulate. If, finally, I decide to publish
my opinions, it is because it seems incumbent upon me
to do so. I am not Wind to the fact that my testimony
is of very little importance ; but however modest it may
be, it seems to me that it is my duty to offer this testi-
mony, such as it is, to those who have undertaken to
submit to scientific discipline the study of those pheno-
mena which are, in appearance at least, so rebellious to
such discipline. It might have been more convenient
and advantageous for myself had I continued my re-
searches in peace and quiet. I do not try to prosely-
tise, and it is really a matter of indifi^erence to me,
whether my contemporaries share or do not share my
views. But the sight of a few brave men fighting the
battle alone is by no means a matter of indifference to
me. There is a certain cowardliness in believing their
teachings, whilst allowing them to bear all the brunt of
the fray for upholding opinions, which require so much
courage to champion. To these brave spirits I dedicate
my book.

I care naught for public opinion : not that I disdain

A

2 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

it — on the contrary, I have the greatest respect for its
judgment — but I am not addressing the public. The
question I am studying is not ripe for the public ; or the
case may be the other way about,

I address those brave men of whom I have just
spoken, to let them know I am of their mind, and that
my observations confirm theirs on many points. I also
address those who are seeking to establish the reality of
the curious phenomena, treated of in this book. I have
tried to fill a gap by showing them the best methods
to adopt, in order to arrive at appreciable results, — such
results being far less difficult to obtain than is commonly
supposed.

A word about the method I have followed. I have
purposely refrained from giving a purely scientific aspect
to my book, though I might have done so had I chosen,
for the usual scientific dressing is unsuitable to the
subject in hand. It seemed preferable to relate what I
have seen, leaving it to those for whom I write to be-
lieve me or not, as they think fit.

I might have accumulated not a little testimony and
considerable external evidence, but to have done so
would not have been the means of convincing a
single extra reader. Those, whom my simple affirma-
tion leaves sceptical, would not be convinced by
reports signed by witnesses, whose sincerity and com-
petence are frequently called into question. Neither
did I wish to adopt the method followed by the Agnelas,
Milan, and Carqueiranne experimenters, in giving a
detailed report of all my sittings ; this method too has its
advantages and disadvantages. However exhaustive a
report may be, it is difficult to indicate therein all the

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 3

conditions of the experiment ; oversights are inevitable.
Moreover, it would be useless to say that every precau-
tion had been taken against fraud, for in enumerating
such precautions, the omission of a single one would
suffice to expose oneself to most justifiable criticism.
Probably that very precaution was elementary and had
been taken, or was considered useless and put aside
deliberately ; nevertheless such circumstances would not
escape criticism. We wish to convince by pointing out
the exact conditions of the experiment ; but those, whom
we would most wish to convince, are the very persons least
prepared to judge of the conditions in which psychical
experiences are obtained. These are physicists and
chemists ; but living matter does not react like inorganic
matter or chemical substances.

I do not seek to convince these savants ; my book is
unassuming and makes no pretence of having been
written for them. If they in their turn should be
tempted to try for those effects which I have obtained,
the methods indicated will be easily accessible to them.
It is in this way they can be indirectly convinced, though
to convince them is not my present aim. Others are
better qualified than I am to try their hand at this
most desirable but, for the moment, most difficult task.

Difficult ! Ay, and for a thousand reasons. First
of all because it is the fashion of to-day to look upon
these facts as unworthy of science. I acknowledge
taking a delicate pleasure in comparing the different
opinions which many young Savants (I beg the printer
not to forget a very big capital S) bring to bear
upon their contemporaries. Here is a man surrounded
by deferential spectators : solemnly he hands a paper-

4 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

knife to a sleeping hysterical subject, and gravely invites
him to murder such or such an individual who is sup-
posed to be where there is really only an empty chair.
When the patient springs forward to carry out the sug-
gestion, and strikes the chair with the paper-knife, the
lookers-on behold a scientific fact, according to classical
science. On the other hand, here is another man who,
not a whit less solemnly, makes longitudinal passes upon
his subject, puts him to sleep, and then tries to ex-
teriorise the said subject's sensibility ; but the onlookers
in this case are not recognised as witnessing a scientific
fact ! I have never been able to see wherein lies the
difference between these two experimenters, the one
experimenting with an hysterical subject more or less
untrustworthy, the other examining a phenomenon
which, if it be true, may be observed without the
necessity of trusting oneself solely to the honesty of the
individual asleep.

In fact there is a most intolerant clique among savants.
Facts it seems are of no importance when pointed
out by those who stand beyond the pale of oflicial
science. Unfortunately, psychical phenomena cannot be
as easily and readily demonstrated as the X-rays or
wireless telegraphy, incontestable facts which any one can
prove to his entire satisfaction. Therefore young savants
rejoice in making an onslaught on those who apply
themselves to the study of these phenomena. It was the
same thing in olden times when budding theologians
made their debuts in the arena of theology against
notorious arch-heretics, Arians, Manicheans, or gnostics.
Nil novi sub sole.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 5

I readily admit that many, who turn their atten-
tion to the curious phenomena of which I am going
to speak, frequently lay themselves open to criticism.
Sometimes they are not very strict concerning the con-
ditions under which their experiments are conducted :
they trust naively, and their conviction is quickly formed.
I cannot too forcibly beg them to be on their guard
against premature assertions : may they avoid justifying
Montaigne's saying, ' L'imagination cree le cas.' My
remark is more particularly addressed to occult, theoso-
phical, and spiritistic groups. The first-named follow an
undesirable method. Their manner of reasoning is
not likely to bring them many adepts, from among
those who are given to thinking deeply. In ordinary
logic, analogy and correspondence have not the same
importance as deduction and induction. On the other
hand it does not seem to me prudent to consider the
esoteric interpretation of the Hebrew writings as being
necessarily truth's last word. I do not see why I should
transfer a belief in their exoteric assertions to a belief in
their talmudistic or kabbalistic commentaries. I can
hardly believe that the Rabbis of the middle ages, or
their predecessors, Esdras' contemporaries, had a more
correct notion of human nature than we have. Their
errors in physics are not valid security for their accuracy
in metaphysics. Truth cannot be usefully sought in the
analysis of a very fine but very old book : all occult
speculations upon secret hebraic exegeses seem to me
but intellectual sport, to the results of which the words of
Ecclesiastes might well be applied : Habel habalim vekol
hahel.

I may pass the same criticism upon theosophists.

6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

The curious mystical movement to which the teachings
of Madame Blavatsky, Colonel Olcott, and Mrs. Besant
have given birth in Europe and in America has not
yet been arrested. Many cultured minds and refined
intelligences have allowed themselves to be led away by
the neo-buddhistic evangile ; doubtless they find what they
look for in the ' Secret Doctrine ' or in ' Isis Unveiled.'
Trahit sua quemque voluptas. I cannot help thinking
that the Upanishads have no more a monopoly of truth
than the Bible has, and that every philosophy ought to
hold fast to the study of Nature if it wishes to live
and progress. This is, moreover, the advice of a man
whom theosophists and occultists alike respect — I mean
Paracelsus — ' Man is here below to instruct himself in
the light of Nature.'

That is what spiritists claim to do. Their philo-
sophy, to use the term which they themselves employ
to designate their doctrine, is founded, they say, upon
fact and experience. It is not a revelation, contemporary
with the splendour of Thebes or the pomp of Anoka's
court, which gives the foundation to their dogmas. It
is an everyday revelation, a real, continuous, and per-
manent revelation. Their ideas concerning our origin
and destiny, their certitude of immortality and the
persistence of human individuality, are due to well-
informed witnesses. These are no less than the spirits
of the dead, who come to enlighten them and to tell
them what is done in the hereafter.

I envy them their simple faith, but I do not altogether
share it. I am persuaded that our individuality has an
infinitely longer period given it for its evolution than
one human existence. But it is not from spiritistic

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 7

seances that I have derived my belief ; no, my belief is
of a philosophical kind, and is the result of pondering
over what I know of life, of nature, and of the extremely
slow development of the human species. It is true the
knowledge I possess is limited, and my belief wavers ;
yet the probabilities seem to me favourable to the
persistence of that mysterious centre of energy which we
call individuality.

This opinion, however, has not been derived from
spiritistic communications : I think these have an origin
other than that given them by Allan Kardec's disciples.

Naturally I am only speaking of my own personal
experience ; I do not permit myself to pronounce as
erroneous those convictions based upon facts not seen
by myself. Therefore I do not wish to say that spiritists
are always the victims of delusion ; I can only say that
the messages, received by me and purporting to come
from the other side of the grave, have seemed to me
to emanate from a different source.

At the same time, to be exact and sincere I ought
to add that, if my conviction has not been won, I have
observed in one or two circumstances certain facts which
have left me most perplexed.

Unfortunately for spiritism, an objection, which seems
to me irrefutable, can be made to the spirits' teaching.
In all parts of Europe, the ' spirits * vouch for reincar-
nation. Often they indicate the moment they are going
to reappear in a human body ; and they relate still
more readily the past avatars of their followers. On
the contrary, in England the spirits assure us that there
is no reincarnation. The contradiction is formal,
positive, and irreconcilable. Those who are inclined

8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

to doubt the correctness of what I affirm have only to
glance through and compare the writings of English
and French spiritists ; for example, those of Allan
Kardec, Denys, Delanne, and those of Stainton- Moses.
How are we to form an opinion worthy of acceptance ?
Who speak the truth ? European spirits or Anglo-
Saxon spirits ? Probably spiritistic messages do not
emanate from very well-informed witnesses. Such is the
conclusion arrived at by Aksakoff, one of the cleverest
and most enlightened of spiritists. He himself acknow-
ledges that one is never certain of the identity of the
communicating intelligence at a spiritistic sitting.

Although I do not share the views of occultists,
theosophists, and spiritists, I can indeed say that their
groups — at least those which I have frequented — are
composed of people worthy, sincere, and convinced.
Occultists and theosophists devote themselves perhaps
more particularly to the development of those mysterious
faculties which, according to them, exist in man, while
spiritists are more incHned to call forth communica-
tions from their spirit friends, but the anxious care of
one and all is the moral development of their groups.

Solicitude for the ethical culture of humanity is
characteristic of these mystic groups. Occultism and
theosophy draw their recruits more especially from
intellectual centres ; the circle of spiritism is much
wider. The simplicity of its teachings and methods
attracts those who shrink before the personal edification
of a creed : for it is a painful undertaking and a heavy
task for each individual to form his own philosophy.
It is more convenient to accept indications which are
already made, and to believe affirmations which are — in

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 9

appearance — sincere and well informed. Long centuries
of religious discipline have accustomed the human mind
to certain acts of faith, and to shun all free discussion,
as soon as there is any question of future destinies. It
is difficult to shake off this atavism.

This is what makes the success of spiritism ; it comes
at its appointed time, and supplies a wide-felt need.

The psychological condition of society to-day is of
an extremely perturbed nature, as slight reflection will
suffice to show. Much has been said of the conflict
between science and religion, but the truth has not yet
been sounded. It is no ordinary conflict which is now
taking place between science and revelation : it is a life-
and-death struggle. And it is easy to foresee which
side will succumb.

It even seems as though the final death-struggles of
Christian dogma had already set in. What man, sincere
and unbiased in his opinions, could repeat to-day the
famous credo quia absurdum } Are we not insulting the
Divinity — if He exists — when we refuse to make use of
His most precious gifts } when we abstain from applying
the full force of our intelligence and reason to the exami-
nation of our destiny and our duties to ourselves and to
others }

This abdication is nevertheless demanded of us — by
Roman Catholicism for example, which exacts unquali-
fied adhesion to its dogmas, blind belief in its Church's
teachings, blind belief in the affirmations of its infallible
pope. It seems to me inadmissible that the God of
Roman Catholics should approve of such indifference.

lo METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

It is obvious that I do not wish to write a history of
ecclesiastical controversy. I have too much respect for
others to allow myself to attack what are still widely
accepted creeds. My duty is but to study the general
aspect of revelation, and to draw therefrom such conclu-
sions as are necessary to my acquirements.

It is an easy study. The most enlightened intellects
stand aloof from revealed religions. I mean the majority,
for there is still a small minority which remains faithful
to dying creeds.

Even the less cultivated intelligences are beginning
to feel the insufficiency of revelation. The Divinity's
incarnation and death, in order to redeem a race so
unworthy of such a sacrifice, begins to astound them ;
they wonder at such solicitude for the inhabitants of one
of the least important spheres in the universe. They are
also surprised at the inexorable severity of a God who,
before granting pardon to mankind, demands his only
son's death ; a God who, for the petty trespasses of
beings far removed from himself, demands an eternity
of suffering as chastisement for such ephemeral insults.
All this fails to satisfy those souls who are enamoured of
truth and justice. These dogmas give man a cosmical
importance which he does not possess, and imputes to
God a susceptibility and cruelty altogether unworthy of
the Supreme Being.

We could easily find other examples ; but I do not
think it necessary to bring them to bear upon my conclu-
sion ; a conclusion, moreover, which is admitted by the
clergy themselves, who complain unceasingly of society's
growing indifference.

But is society really so indifferent ? I do not think

PRELIMINARY REMARKS ii

so. We find indifference among the richer and more
cultured classes, where some give themselves up to
pleasure, others to science, in reality each one seeking
only that which will amuse or interest him or herself ;
but those who are without resources, those whom life
molests and wearies, those who are afraid at the idea of
death and annihilation, those who have need of some
consolation, of some hope, those people are not indifferent.
If these forsake the churches and temples, it is because
they do not find therein what they are seeking. The
spiritual nourishment offered them has lost its savour ;
they ask for something more substantial and less
contestable.

Besides, even in the most highly cultured classes, this
need begins to make itself felt. Such men as Myers,
Sidgwick, Gurney, to speak only of the dead, took up
the study of psychical phenomena with the desire of
finding therein the proof of a future life. Myers died
after having found — or thought he had found — the
sought-for demonstration.

Professor Haeckel of Jena drew up a philosophy for
himself! His materialistic monism is the outward
expression of his belief : but this is also ill-adapted to
satisfy that longing, the extent and force of which I have
just touched upon.

Now spiritism lays claim to satisfying these longings ;
and it does satisfy them, when only simple souls are
concerned, simple souls who do not dream of life's
complexities. The phenomena of spiritistic seances — and
these are real phenomena — are the miracles which come

12 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

to confirm the spirits' teachings. Why should they
doubt ?

Therefore the clients of spiritism are increasing in
number with extraordinary rapidity. The extent to
which this doctrine is spreading is one of the most curious
things of the day. I believe we are beholding the dawn
of a veritable religion ; a religion without a ritual and
without an organised clergy, and yet with assemblies and
practices which make it a veritable cult. As for me, I
take a great interest in these meetings ; they give me
the impression that I am assisting at the birth of a
religious movement called to a great destiny.

Will my anticipations be realised ? The future alone
can tell. My opinion has been formed on impartial and
disinterested observation. Notwithstanding the sympathy
that I feel for those groups which have been kind enough
to admit me into their midst, notwithstanding the friend-
ship which binds me to many of their members, I have
never wished to be of their propaganda, nor even to
allow them to think that I shared their views. I have
always plainly told them that I was by no means con-
vinced of the constant intervention of spirits ; I have
not concealed from them that other and, as I thought,
more probable explanations could be given to the pheno-
mena they witnessed ; perhaps they have appreciated my
frankness. In any case, I am very grateful for the courtesy
and kindliness with which they allowed me to observe
the phenomena at their sittings, to listen to their
mediums' teachings, and to express my opinions, which
are so unlike their own.

I am neither spiritist, nor theosophist, nor occultist.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 13

I do not believe in occult sciences, nor in the super-
natural, nor in miracles. I believe we know as yet very
little of the world we are living in, and that we still have
everything to learn. The cleverest men in all epochs show
an unconscious tendency to suppose that facts, which are
incompatible with their ideas, are supernatural or false.
More modest but also more cruel, our forefathers, the
theologians and lawyers, burnt sorcerers and magicians
without accusing them of fraud : to-day most of our
savants, being more affirmative and less rigorous, accuse
mediums and thaumaturgists of fraud, but without con-
demning them to the stake. In reality their state of
mind is the same as that of the ancient exorcists ;
they have the same intolerance, and the different treat-
ment meted out to their subjects is only due to the
progressive improvement in manners and customs.

Even those savants who are the most interested in
psychical research are afraid of confessing their curiosity.
It requires the broad-mindedness of a Crookes or a
Lodge, of a Duclaux or a Richet, of a Rochas or a
Lombroso to dare to take a stand and openly show an
interest in this field of research. Some day, however,
these same suspicious researches will be their experi-
menters' best claim to fame. The present attitude of
official science towards medianic phenomena is to be
regretted ; its scientific ' cant ' has grievous results.
The history of the International Psychological Institute
is instructive in this respect. What a pity that such
learned, remarkable, and competent men, as Janet for
example, should have shrunk from the epithet ' psychic ' !
The need for d. psychical institute existed, not a psycho-
logical one, of which there are already enough.

14 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

It is precisely the attitude of respectable scientific
circles which appears to me a mistake, demanding recti-
fication. I understand perfectly and excuse this attitude.
For so many incorrect things have been affirmed, so
many ridiculous practices have been recommended by
the leaders of the occult movement, that official repre-
sentatives of science must have felt indignant. Un-
fortunately no one except Richet has ventured to do for
the phenomena vouched for by occultists and spiritists,
what Charcot has done for the magnetisers' allegations.
No doubt, this other Charcot will come when the time
is ripe.

The preparatory work will have been done, and he
need only resume the experiments of Richet, Crookes,
Lodge, Rochas, Ochorowicz, and many others.

I class myself with these experimenters. Many of
them are my friends, and, if our manner of thinking be
not quite the same, my ideas upon the method to be
used are much the same as theirs. And thus I find
myself quite naturally led to say what my ideas
are.

I believe in the reality of certain phenomena which I
have been able to verify over and over again. I see no
need to attribute these phenomena to any supernatural
intervention. I am inclined to think that they are pro-
duced by some force existing within ourselves.

I believe also that these facts can be subjected to
scientific observation. I say observation and not experi-
mentation, because I do not think that it is yet possible
to proceed on veritable experimental lines. In order to
experiment one must understand the conditions necessary
to produce a given result ; now, in our case, we have a

PRELIMINARY REMARKS

15

most imperfect knowledge of the required conditions,
which are, nevertheless, necessary antecedents to the
sought-for phenomena. We are in the position of the
astronomer who can put his eye to the telescope and
observe the firmament, but who cannot provoke the pro-
duction of a single celestial phenomenon.

My position is therefore very simple. It is that of
an impartial observer. The occult sciences and spiritism
never aroused my curiosity, and I was more than thirty
years of age, when my attention was drawn towards
psychical phenomena. I did not even try to turn a table
before I was thirty-five, considering such facts as un-
worthy of serious examination. It is only since 1892
that I have become interested in these researches.

I cannot remember to-day how I was led to take up
the study ; it was not abruptly. I am certain that no
striking incident was ever responsible for a sudden
changing of my mind. As far as my recollection goes,
I think it was the chance perusal of some theosophical
works, which made me curious to know the extent of a
mystical movement, whose existence I had not even sus-
pected. My discoveries astonished me, for I never
thought that mysticism could find adherents at the end
of the nineteenth century. The opening address pro-
nounced by me at the Court of Appeal at Limoges in
1893 was upon this subject.

This address brought me many correspondents, and I
was led to experiment myself. My first results were
negative, and except a few interesting experiments made
at Limoges with a lady of that town — a remarkable
medium — and her husband, the phenomena which I
observed were not of a nature to convince me. In 1895

1 6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

I went to I'Agnelas, and took part in the experiments of
MM. de Rochas, Dariex, Sabatier, de Gramont and de
Watteville. The report of these experiments has been
pubhshed in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques.

Surprised at these manifestations, I became filled with
the desire to investigate further ; and soon afterwards
curiosity prompted me to take advantage of a leisure
moment to resump the I'Agnelas experiments. In 1896
Eusapia Paladino was kind enough to spend a fortnight
at my house at Choisy, near Bordeaux. MM. de
Rochas, Watteville, Gramont, Brincard, and General
Thomassin were present at all or some of these experi-
ments. The Attorney-General, M. Lefranc, my friend
and chief, was also present at one of our sittings. M.
Bechade and a Bordeaux medium, Madame Agullana,
were also my guests. The results of these sittings have
been noted down by M. de Rochas in a small volume
which has not been made public. More and more
interested, and desirous of investigating still further
what I had seen with Eusapia, I begged her to pay me
another visit. She consented, and returned in 1897,
giving me another fortnight, this time in my home at
Bordeaux. The phenomena which my friends and I
obtained on that occasion were as demonstrative as
before.

Eusapia is not the only medium with whom I have
experimented. Madame Agullana of Bordeaux, with her
customary disinterestedness, has given me many sittings :
the results I obtained with her are of a different order.
I also brought twice to Bordeaux the young mediums of
Agen, where a previous opportunity had been given me
of observing them ; at Agen their phenomena had won

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 17

for their home the reputation of being haunted. Lastly,
I have found some remarkable mediums at Bordeaux,
among those who did me the honour of admitting me
to their sittings. I also came across a large number of
mediums manifesting automatic phenomena only ; these,
too, were interesting in their way, for they enabled
me to note and understand the difference between so-
called supernatural phenomena and phenomena which are
but the expression of an activity, which, in appearance at
least, is extraneous to the ordinary personality.

Finally, I have frequently come across fraud. This
was instructive, and I observed the fraudulent with
patience and interest. The tricks of voluntary fraud
deserve to be known and studied, as one is then better
able to frustrate and checkmate them. Involuntary
fraud — far more common than voluntary fraud — is no
less instructive, for it throws a vivid light upon the
curious phenomena of automatic activity.

It is not always becoming to entertain one's readers
with personalities, but I think I ought to infringe a little
upon decorum, in order to specify the state of mind in
which I have pursued my observations. From the very
beginning I w£ts struck by a fact which seems beyond
doubt. I saw that certain manifestations — to all appear-
ances supernormal — could only be studied with the
assistance of nervous and mental pathology. Therefore
I went to school again, and for six years I studied assid-
uously clinical medicine at the University of Bordeaux.
It is not within my present scope to write the panegyric
of the masters to whose teachings I listened, their names
would seem out of place in a book like this. But I may
say that the interest which I took in my medical studies

B

1 8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

became more lively, as I understood their importance
better and better. Doubtless the notions which I have
acquired are most rudimentary, but however unpretentious
they may be, they have enabled me to understand the
mechanism of certain manifestations, and to bring a more
precise judgment to bear upon their psychological value.
I am, therefore, an interested but impartial onlooker.
It matters little to me if a table or a chair moves of its
own accord ; I have no particular desire to see them
accomplish these movements. The only interest, which
I find in this fact, is its truth. Its reality alone is of
value to me, and I have applied myself to establish this
without any possible error. My unique preoccupation
has been to make sure of the reality of the phenomena
which I observed. The pursuit of truth has been my
sole concern.

True, 1 sought it in my own way ; for I preferred
to build my conviction upon a basis which would satisfy
my intelligence and my reason, rather than impose a
priori conditions which the experiment ought to satisfy in
order to convince me. I am ignorant of most of these
conditions, and I think that every one else is also. Con-
sequently, I consider it imprudent to establish beforehand
the conditions under which the experiments are to be
made, in order to merit being recorded. It might just
happen, that one of the conditions thus laid down
rendered the experiment im-practicable. Therefore I
have observed rather than experimented.

My manner of proceeding has been productive of
many happy results ; for the curious phenomena which
I have been able to observe are capricious ; they shun
those who would force them, and offer themselves to

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 19

those who wait for them patiently. This behaviour,
this spontaneity, is not the least astonishing feature in
this line of observation.

I have always thought that there was nothing of a
supernatural order in these phenomena. My conclusions
have not changed ; but let us understand the meaning of
this expression. I do not mean to say that these pheno-
mena are always in accordance with nature's laws such as
we understand them to-day. I am certain that we are
in the presence of an unknown force ; its manifestations
do not seem to obey the same laws, as those governing
other forces more familiar to us ; but I have no doubt
they obey some law, and perhaps the study of these
phenomena will lead us to the conception of laws more
comprehensive than those already known. Some future
Newton will discover a more complete formula than
ours.

My position, therefore, seems to me to be well defined.
I have held myself aloof from those who denied upon
bias, and also from those who asserted too rashly. I
have remained within the margin of science. I have
endeavoured to bring to bear upon my experiments
methods of scientific observation. I wish to go in
neither for occultism, nor for spiritism, nor for any-
thing mysterious or supernatural. Many who know
me imperfectly may think that I have given reins to
my imagination, that I am an adept in theosophy, neo-
martinism, or spiritism. Such is not the case. I seek,
and I have found — very little ; others have been more
fortunate than I. Some day perhaps I shall have the
same good luck. But I shall not touch upon what
others have done, save as an accessory ; I shall only

20 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

speak of what I myself have seen and what I myself
think. My book is the statement of a witness — it
has no other signification.

One word in conclusion. A great number of my
experiments have been made with people who wish to
preserve their incognito. I have never been wanting in
discretion when this was asked of me, and have never
disclosed the names of those who placed their confidence
in me, permitting me to experiment with them whilst
desirous of remaining unknown. I have sometimes
found very remarkable mediums among these anonymous
experimenters. Some of my sittings with them have
been truly admirable on account of the clear, distinct
nature of the phenomena obtained. I beg these trusting
friends to accept my heartfelt thanks.

May my book have the good fortune to contribute,
however feebly, towards removing the prejudices which
keep away so many likely experimenters from these studies
and researches. These prejudices are manifold : there
is the fear of ridicule, the religious scruple, the delusive
dread of nervous or mental disease, the terror of an
unknown world peopled with strange, mysterious beings.
But time will dispel all this, and I believe that a day will
come, when these facts — well studied, well observed —
will change our conceptions of things in a way little
dreamt of to-day. The sphere of ' Psychical Science '
is unmeasurable. A few pioneers only are exploring
therein to-day ; when the land has been tilled and culti-
vated it will yield, I am sure, a wonderful crop — the
harvest will surpass the dreams of imagination.

But let those who, thanks to a scientific education, are
particularly well qualified to undertake these studies.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS 21

cease to consider them unworthy of their attention. In
holding themselves aloof they commit a mistake which
they will bitterly regret some day. Allowing even that
the first experimenter may be guilty of mistakes, there
will always remain something out of the facts which they
have observed. Mistakes are unavoidable in the debut
of a new science : the methods are uncertain, and the
novelty of the phenomena makes their analysis difficult ;
time, labour in common, and experience will remedy
these inevitable inconveniences.

It would be very easy to give examples of the
delay which scientific prejudice has brought to bear upon
scientific progress. This criticism has already been very
frequently and wittily made. Even those men, whose
discoveries have placed them at the head of the intellectual
movement of their generation, are not altogether free
from blame, yielding too often to the deplorable tendency
of converting natural laws into dogmas. They commit
the same fault they object to in theologians. Man has a
wonderful aptitude for laying hold of his neighbours'
faults and remaining blind to his own, and probably it
will be so for a long time to come. I would like to see
science rid itself for good and all of this theological habit
of mind.

Science has only to think about facts. There should
be no distinction made between the various phenomena
observed : it is not beseeming to adopt certain facts, and
refuse analysis to others, excluding them on the ground,
for example, that their examination belongs to reHgion.
Every natural fact ought to be studied, and, if it be real,
incorporated with the patrimony of knowledge. What
matters its apparent contradiction with the laws of nature,

22 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

such as we understand them to-day ? These laws are not
principles superior to our experience ; they are but the
expression of our experience : our knowledge is very
limited and our experience is still young — it will
grow, and its development will bring the inevitable
consequence of a corresponding modification in our
conception of nature. Therefore, let us not be too
positive of the accuracy of present ideas, and arbitrarily
reject everything which we think runs counter to them.
Do not dogmatise ; let our only care be the impartial
search for truth. Nothing will better enable us to
understand the surroundings in the midst of which we
are evolving than facts, which are apparently irreconcilable
with current ideas : these facts betoken that the ideas are
erroneous or incomplete ; their attentive observation will
reveal a more general formula which will explain at one
and the same time the new and the old. And thus
from antithesis to synthesis, more and more universal,
our scientific ideas will tend towards absolute truth.

Alas ! how far away from this ideal do we seem to be
to-day ! Laboremus !

METHOD 23

CHAPTER I

METHOD

A French proverb says, ' we must have eggs to make an
omelette ' : in order to be able to study psychical pheno-
mena we must have psychical phenomena. This seems
an elementary proposition, and yet it is the very one we
most readily overlook. I have already said why and
wherefore.

Therefore, I deem it necessary to indicate at once the
methods which have appeared to me to give the most
favourable results. Those of my readers who may wish
to verify the accuracy of my conclusions will, I am sure,
have the opportunity of doing so, if they operate as I
have done. First of all, I must warn them against
caring for the world's opinion. They must not be afraid
of exposing themselves to ridicule. No doubt there is
temptation to make a jest of the methods which I advise ;
but I strongly recommend them to think about the result,
and not about the means used to obtain that result.

Psychical phenomena are of two orders : material and
intellectual. The methods best suited to the study of
the first are not, in my opinion, adapted to the study of
the second. There is a distinction, therefore, to be
made in the beginning between these two categories of
facts.

24 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Physical phenomena are the least frequently met with ;
they include : —

1 . Knockings or * raps ' on furniture, walls, floors, or
on the experimenters themselves.

2. Sundry noises other than raps.

3. Movements of objects without sufficient contact to
explain the movement produced. There is here a dis-
tinction to be made between (a) movements produced
without any contact whatever — telekinesis : e.g. the rising
or sliding of a table or chair, the swaying of scales,
etc., without their being touched ; and (/^) movements
with contact, which is insufficient to explain them —
parakinesis : e.g. the levitation of a table on which the
experimenters lay their hands.

4. Apports : that is to say, the sudden appearance
of objects — flowers, sweets, stones, etc, — which have
not been brought by any of the assistants. This
phenomenon — if it exists — supposes, in addition, the
following : —

5. Penetrability, or the passage of matter through
matter.

6. Visual phenomena, which are themselves subdivided
into : —

{a) Vision of the odic effluvium.

{F) Amorphous lights.

{c) Forms, either luminous or non-luminous.

{a) Lastly, the most complete phenomenon of all —

the materialisation of a form, human or

otherwise, luminous or not.

7. Phenomena which leave permanent traces, such as
imprints.

METHOD 25

8. Alteration in the weight of material objects or of
certain people : levitation.

9. Perceptible changes in the temperature : sensation
of cold or heat ; spontaneous combustion.

10. Cool breezes.

Such are the chief psychical phenomena of the material
order, which have been pointed out by different experi-
menters. I have not verified all of them : raps, tele-
kinetic, and a few luminous phenomena are all I have
obtained in a thoroughly satisfactory manner.

Intellectual phenomena are those which imply the
expression of a thought. I will class them in the
following manner : —

1. Typtology : the table, upon which the experi-
menters lay their hands, leans to one side and recovers
equilibrium by striking the ground.

2. Grammatology or spelt-out sentences. Various
methods may be used. The principal are : —

{a) Repeating the alphabet until a rap indicates the

letter to be retained ;
(J?) Pointing out the letters of the alphabet by

means of a pencil or stiletto, etc., until a

rap indicates where to stop ;
(<:) Finally, the designation of the required letters

by an index-hand on a pivot fixed in the

middle of a circle composed of the alphabet,

the index-hand moving with or without

contact.

3. Automatic writing : immediate^ when the subject
writes without the intermedium of an instrument ;
mediate^ when he uses an instrument, such as a plan-
chette, a wooden ball with handles fastened to it, a basket,

26 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

a hat, a stand, etc. In this case, several people can
combine their action by laying their hands all together
upon the object to which the pencil is attached.

4. Direct writing : i.e. writing which appears on slates,
paper, etc., whether in or out of sight of the experi-
menters. If the letters seem to be formed without the
aid of a pencil we have precipitated writing.

5. Incarnation or 'control': the subject, when
asleep, speaks in the name of some entity or order,
V7\{\c]\ possesses him.

6. Direct voices : when words are heard, appearing to
emanate from vocal organs other than those of the
persons present; some experimenters are supposed to
have conversed in this way with materialised forms.

7. Certain automatisms other than writing are observ-
able : e.g. crystal- and mirror-gazing ; audition in conch-
formed shells ; sundry hallucinations, telepathy and
telesthesia : ' the communication of impressions of any
kind from one mind to another, independently of the
recognised channels of sense ' ; perception at a distance
of positive impressions. These phenomena bring in
their train clairvoyance or voyance, and lucidity, expres-
sions which are by no means identical. Lucidity
designates more particularly the faculty which certain
people have, in magnetic sleep or in somnambulism,
of getting exact impressions in a supernormal manner ;
clairvoyants or voyants are those who see forms in-
visible to other people. Clairaudience denotes phenomena
of the same kind in the auditory sphere.

I have paid scarcely any attention to these intellectual
phenomena, with the exception of automatic writing,
crystal-gazing, typtology, and ' control.' If I have taken

METHOD 27

greater interest in material than in intellectual pheno-
mena, it is because they struck me as being more simple
and easier to observe. This sentiment is not that of all
experimenters, and my colleagues of the London Society
for Psychical Research appear to be more affirmative in
their conclusions, concerning survival after death and
communication vyith the dead, than in their opinions on
material phenomena. My personal experience has not
led me to the same ideas.

Undoubtedly, experiments demonstrating the persist-
ence of human personality after death would have an
interest, in comparison with which all others would be
blotted out. But the analysis of phenomena of this
kind raises difficulties, which are much more compli-
cated than is the simple observation of a physical fact.
Intellectual phenomena always suppose some kind of
motor automatism or other ; of course, I am not
speaking of manifestations where the will of the sensitive
intervenes : this automatism is manifested by language,
writing, or the less elevated motor phenomena, typtology
for example ; it may also be sensory and manifest itself
in hallucinations of various kinds. To understand the
infinite complication of intellectual phenomena it suffices
to indicate the conditions under which they are observed.
Before admitting that the cause of the apparent auto-
matism is foreign to the sensitive, we must be able to
eliminate with certitude the action of his personal or
impersonal conscience. To what extent does the sub-
liminal memory intervene ? — a first difficulty which is
scarcely solvable !

But supposing it to be solved, the problem still
remains almost intact. If the knowledge of a positive

2 8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

fact, certainly unknown to the medium, appears in his
automatic communications, we must not thereupon
conclude that this knowledge is due to the intervention
of a disincarnated spirit. Telepathy may be able to
explain it. Telepathy is, as we know, the transmission
of an idea, an impression, a psychical condition of some
kind or other from one person to another. We are
altogether ignorant of its laws, and nothing warrants
the assertion, that if telepathy is a fact — as appears most
probable — it is therefore necessary that any particular
motive condition should exist in the agent. We may
suppose with just as much reason, that the existence of
a souvenir in one mind can be discovered and recognised
by another, under conditions solely depending on the
mental state of the percipient. This is, properly speaking,
telesthesia. Now it is very difficult to prove that the
fact, of which automatism marks the knowledge, is
unknown to everybody. It is even impossible to prove
it. But supposing this were done, there would always
remain the possibility of attributing the communication
to some being other than human : by admitting even
the existence of spiritual or immaterial beings distinct
from ourselves, nothing warrants us to affirm that such
beings are our deceased relatives or friends and not
some facetious Kobolds.

Prediction and precognition, of which I have had
proof, raise just as complicated questions as the pre-
ceding ones. I confine myself to recording without
trying to explain these facts.

Therefore, I have given my preferences to the study
of physical phenomena, because in such I have not to
consider the mental condition of the subject, nor have

METHOD 29

I any of those delicate analyses to make, the complexity
of which I have just mentioned. I have to defend myself
against only two enemies, the fraud of others and my own
illusions. Now, I feel certain of never having been the
victim of either. When, for example, in the refreshment-
room of a railway-station, in a restaurant, in a tea-shop,
I have observed, in broad daylight, a piece of furniture
change place of its own accord, 1 have a right to think I
am not in the presence of furniture especially arranged
to produce such effects. When the unforeseen nature of
the experiment excludes the hypothesis of preparation,
when, by sight and touch, I make sure of the absence of
contact between the experimenters and the article which
is displaced, I have sufficient reasons for excluding the
hypothesis of fraud. When I measure the distance
between the objects before and after the displacement, I
have also sufficient reason for excluding the hypothesis
of the illusion of my senses. If this right be refused me,
I should really like to know how any fact whatever can
be observed. No one is more convinced than myself
of the frailty of our impressions and the relativity of our
perceptions ; nevertheless, there must be some way of
perceiving a phenomenon in order to submit it to impar-
tial observation. Besides, the supposed reproach of illusion
cannot be applied in a general sense ; to admit its justice
would be to do away with the very foundations of our
sciences. It can only be applied to me as an individual,
and I willingly admit that it is impossible for me to
exculpate myself. In vain might I plead that I am per-
suaded of the regularity of my perceptions, in vain assert
that I observe no tendency to illusion in myself, my
testimony would remain none the less suspected.

30 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Consequently, I have but one reply for those who
mistrust my qualifications as an observer, and that is to
invite them to take the trouble of experimenting on their
own account, using the methods which I have adopted.
If, a -priori^ they wish to lay down their own conditions,
they run the risk of receiving no appreciable results.
When they have obtained a few plain facts they will be
able to vary the conditions of experimentation, and
satisfy the legitimate exigencies of their own reason.
That is what I did, and if I cannot solemnly affirm the
reality of the phenomena which I have observed, I can
at all events affirm my personal conviction of their exist-
ence. Maybe I am showing an exaggerated mistrust of
myself by thus only affirming my subjective conviction,
and in not venturing to affirm with a like energy the
objective reality of the things I have seen. Yet I trust
no one will blame me for my prudent reserve. What
man can say he has never made a mistake ?

Only those, who put themselves in the same conditions
which enabled me to make my observations, have a right
to criticise those observations.

To criticise without experience is unreasonable, and I
recognise no competence in those judges whose decisions
are made without preliminary information. For the rest,
I have no wish to convert any one to my ideas, and am
indifferent— respectfully indifferent, if you like — to the
judgment which may be formed about me.

The methods recommended by diverse occult schools
vary a great deal. Theosophists do not reveal to the
profane the means they use to obtain supernormal facts.
This discretion astonishes me, for the theosophical society
is filled with a lively spirit of propagandism. It has its

METHOD

31

chief centre at Adyar, and lodges or branches everywhere.
The theosophical reviews venture to discuss the most ele-
vated problems of philosophy, and are not at all sparing
of the most extraordinary revelations of esoteric teaching ;
but they are remarkably sparing of practical indications.

Theosophical phenomenonalism appears to derive in-
spiration from Hindu-Yogism. I do not know the
rules of training to which Yogis submit themselves.
The most severe abstinence seems to be recommended
them. Adepts are generally initiated by their Gurus or
masters, and 1 have not been fortunate enough to be
the chela of an initiated.

The French occultists who are connected with Eliphas
Levy by Papus (Dr. Encausse), Guaita, Haven, Barlet,
Sedir, recommend the practice of magic. Descriptions
of the necessary magical material will be found in
treatises by Papus and Eliphas Levy. The results
which the Magi relate having been obtained are so vague,
that I have had no curiosity to put into practice the
strange proceedings of magic ceremonial recommended
by them. These have a serious inconvenience ; namely,
to strike the imagination of credulous folk, and to
facilitate auto-suggestion, sensorial illusions, and hallu-
cinations. To accomplish the rites, moreover, it is
necessary to dispose of rooms arranged in a particular
way, and to submit oneself to a severe diet for a certain
time. This makes it a complicated matter. Well, I
must admit I was ashamed to try these methods. I
lacked the courage to don the cloak and the linen robe,
to trace the circle, and with lighted lamp and sword in
hand await visions about to appear in the smoke arising
from the burning incense. I own I was perhaps wrong

32 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

not to try what are apparently the less rational methods.
Only caring for the result obtained, I certainly would
not have hesitated to resort to white or even black
magic, had I had any reason whatsoever to anticipate a
positive result. In order to obtain an observable fact, I
would not have hesitated laying myself open to ridicule.
But the statements of experimenters of the occult school
seemed to imply a poverty of practical results. If the
magi of the present day had realised some operation
easily accessible to observation, they would not have
omitted acquainting us of the fact in one or other
of their numerous reviews. Their silence struck me as
significant.

Moreover, the very essence even of Hermetic
doctrines, openly professed by occultists, is opposed
to all such divulgence. The ancient doctrine exacted
initiation. The Rosicrucians, if I am not mistaken,
could only initiate an adept. Then again, they were
allowed to use this privilege only upon attaining a
certain age, and when convinced of having found a
discreet and trustworthy pupil. All that publicity made
to-day about Hermetic sciences is the actual negation of
their first precepts. These indiscretions bring to my
mind the words of one of my predecessors at the
Bordeaux Court [successor of the ancient Parliament
of Guyenne], the President Jean d'Espagnet, one of the
three or four adepts who pass for having unriddled the
great arcanum. ' Facilia intellectu suspecta haheat^ he
says, speaking to the seeker, ' maxime in mysticis
nominibus et arcanis operationibus ; in obscuris enim
Veritas delitescit ; nee unquam dolosius qiiam qumn aperte,
nee verius quam quum obscure, scribunt philosophi.'

METHOD 33

Then, again, I had a decisive reason for choosing
spiritistic methods : they are not mysterious and they
require no special subjective preparation. They are
simple — in appearance, at least — and can be easily
applied. Spiritists, and certain experimenters who have
adopted their methods without sharing their theories,
affirm having obtained surprising results. Therefore,
I had nothing better to do than choose these same
methods. Because of their simplicity, and the multi-
plicity of certified results, I considered it preferable to
adopt the methods of spiritists. I will, therefore, in-
dicate how I experiment when I am free to direct the
sittings — which, unfortunately, is not always the case.

I shall divide my indications into three wide categories :
I. Material Conditions; 2. Composition of the Circle;
3. Methods of Operation.

I will add that these indications are not absolute.

I. MATERIAL CONDITIONS

Results are generally better, when operations are
carried on in a room whose dimensions do not exceed
15 to 20 square yards in area, and 12 to 15 feet in
height. Smaller rooms may be used, but then the heat
is sometimes trying.

The temperature of the room is an important factor.
Heat, although it may inconvenience the experimenters
and the medium, appears to exercise a favourable influence
on the emission of the force. On the contrary, cold is
an element of non-success. Of course, I am speaking of
the temperature of the room. I would advise operating
in a temperature of from 20 to 25 degrees centigrade. It

c

34 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

is decidedly necessary to avoid having cold hands and
feet.

In winter the seance-room should be thoroughly
warmed and the fire allowed to go out before the
sitting, in case luminous phenomena should be forth-
coming.

I fancied I saw an advantage, especially for movements
without contact, in operating in an uncarpeted room.
The carpet not only seems to be a bad element generally,
it also hinders the gliding movements of the table, which
are often only very slight.

As for exterior meteorological conditions, I have
noticed that a dry cold favours the production of
psychical phenomena : it is, I believe, the temperature
optima. In any case, the dryness of the air is a very
good condition. I have noticed that the phenomena
were more easily obtained, when outside conditions
favoured the production of numerous sparks under the
wheels of electric trams. I have often noticed this
coincidence between good sittings and the abundance
of electric sparks above-mentioned. I believe that the
hygrometrical state of the atmosphere is an important
factor in the production of these sparks. Rain and wind
are, on the contrary, causes of failure.

The lighting of the seance-room is one of the most
important considerations in experimentation. Lamps
and candles have the inconvenience of taking some time
to light, and they do not allow of easy and rapid
modification in the illumination of the room. Electric
lighting is the best system, because, disposing of several
lamps, it suffices to press a hand-lever in order to vary
the quantity and quahty of the light.

METHOD 35

Much criticism has been passed on the particular kind
of experiments I have undertaken to relate ; one of the
most frequently reiterated criticisms is the reproach of
always operating in obscurity. Nothing can be more
inexact. As far as I am concerned, 1 have never con-
sidered as convincing telekinetic and parakinetic experi-
ments made in obscurity. Those movements without
contact, which have brought about my conviction, were
obtained in full light, and more often in broad daylight.
Of course, it is evident that darkness is necessary for the
observation of luminous phenomena. To insist upon
proving, in broad daylight, the reality of the delicate
phosphorescences which it has been given me to observe,
is a glaring contradiction.

On the other hand, there is no doubt that darkness
is particularly favourable to phenomena of a physical
order. On several occasions I have had the opportunity
of recognising this fact under conditions, which rendered
the hypothesis of fraud extremely improbable. For
example, I have frequently obtained raps in the light,
the number and intensity of which increased when the
light was extinguished. It is the same with movements
of objects without contact ; but, I repeat, obscurity is
not necessary.

In a popular scientific review I once read a criticism
of some experiments in which I took part — a
criticism written by a medical man at Bruxelles, if
my memory be correct. This doctor, a man of talent,
imagined that our conclusions were founded upon ex-
periments conducted solely in total obscurity. He
committed an involuntary mistake.

Psychical phenomena can be obtained in broad day-

^6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

liofht, and an endeavour should be made to obtain them
in this way. There has been a general tendency to put
out all lights in order to procure more marked pheno-
mena. This is a wrong way of proceeding, if one seeks
physical phenomena such as raps or movements without
contact. We must avoid working without light, for the
habit of only being able to emit the nervous force in
obscurity is most easily acquired ; and it is by no means
easy to suppress acquired habits. Eusapia Paladino
had the habit of demanding the gradual extinction of
the light as her trance deepened. In 1897 I was able to
get through her the same phenomena, with a certain
amount of light and without the trance condition, I
still remember her astonishment at obtaining, in her
waking state, phenomena which, until then, she had
obtained in the second state only. Sleep and darkness
were the conditions this remarkable medium had become
accustomed to, but they were not necessary. My first
recommendation, then, is to operate with light, with as
much light as possible.

I repeat, however, that sometimes the lessening of light
is desirable — often the medium demands it — even its
total extinction is sometimes necessary, as, for example,
when sitting for luminous phenomena. It is therefore
well to have a series of graduated electric lights more
or less shaded. The simpler thing is to have a Pigeon
lamp. These petroleum lamps do not give much light,
but the graduation of the light is easily effected with
them. Their great advantage is this, when the elec-
tricity is turned off, their feeble light — quite sufficient
in certain cases — is capable of being gradually reduced
until total obscurity is obtained.

METHOD 37

Coloured lights are often useful : I have not tried blue ;
yellow, violet, and green are good ; while red fatigues
the eyes. For certain series of experiments, I arranged
my light so as to obtain white, yellow, green, or red,
according to wish : the first three give sufficient illumina-
tion ; it is not at all the same with red.

I strongly recommend avoiding the concentration of
the luminous source. To avoid that inconvenience,
dull glass may be used, or the lamps and lantern-sides
may be covered with transparent paper — the quantity
of light is not sensibly diminished, and the sight is less
tried.

The quality of the light employed did not seem to me
to have any very noticeable influence on the phenomena,
yet I think my best results have been obtained in the
twilight hours, or in the afternoon between five and
seven o'clock, when the hard light of day had been
tempered by drawing the blinds together.

The most important question after that of illumination
is the choice of apparatus. I do not hesitate to say that
the table is the best thing to use. However, it must not
be imagined this article is an indispensable tool. Move-
ments without contact can be obtained just as well with
chairs, baskets, hats, pieces of wood, linen, etc., but a
table is more convenient.

I have obtained equally good results with round or
rectangular tables ; the latter have perhaps given me the
finest experiences. Eusapia generally uses rectangular
tables ; at I'Agnelas the table we used weighed about 13
kilogrammes, at Choisy 6 or 7, at Bordeaux about 7 kg.
500 grs. When sitting for raps or movements without
contact, I think it is better to use lighter tables ; for

38 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

psychical force is mensurable : some mediums incapable
of moving a table weighing ten kilogrammes may be able
to obtain the levitation of a lighter one.

Some of my recent results lead me to think, there might
be an advantage in using tables made with a double top,
a space of three or four inches separating the two shelves.
I have not experimented sufficiently to be able to express
an opinion on the advantages which, theoretically, the
double top seems to hold out. My impression is that
the table acts something like a condenser, in which case
the purpose of a double top can be understood.

The legs of the table should be separated. One-legged
tables should be discarded, and especially tripods, their
supervision being so very difficult. When the legs are
thin and apart, observation is untrammelled.

The colour of the table did not seem to me to exercise
any influence over the phenomena. I have been equally
successful with black, white, red, and brown tables.
They may be polished or unpolished. I do not think it
matters what kind of wood they are made of, though
I have obtained my finest raps with an unpolished
mahogany table.

I have noticed there is an advantage in covering the
table with some white material of light texture, which
should not fall beyond the edges of the table more
than one or two inches, as it would otherwise interfere
with the experimenters' reciprocal supervision. I do not
know why the presence of a cloth should be favourable
to raps and movements ; at all events, it makes
fraudulent raps and communicated movements much
more difficult.

It is well to curtain off one corner of the room in order

METHOD 39

to form a cabinet. If the room be narrow enough, it is
more convenient to stretch the curtains at the end
opposite the window — an arrangement I adopted at
Choisy.

The dimensions of the cabinet ought not to exceed
3 feet 9 inches to 4 feet 6 inches in width, 2 feet in depth,
and 6 feet in height. I think there is an advantage in
partially closing in the top.

The curtains should be made of some material of
light thin texture. It is a mistake to think they should
be of a dark colour ; I have obtained just as good results
with plain white sheets as with dark curtains.

When studying movement of objects without contact,
it is useful to place in the cabinet light articles which
produce a noise when shaken. The common tambourine
is very appropriate for this purpose, as are also accordions,
toy-pianos, harmonicas, hand-bells, etc.

The experimenters ought to sit upon wooden chairs
with cane seats. Upholstered chairs are not to be
recommended.

An easy-chair should be placed in the cabinet for
the medium, in case he should wish to sit there.
Mediums often express this wish, when in a state of
' trance ' or somnambulism. I give the name of ' trance '
to the sleep or torpor which is generally noticed in the
sensitive, when the phenomena attain their maximum
intensity. I prefer the word ' trance ' to any other
expression, because the condition of the entranced
medium does not seem to me to be identical with that
of the somnambulist ; and for the particular experiments
with which I am dealing, it is of interest to use terms
which do not lead to confusion.

40 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

It is extremely useful to have a registering apparatus,
which will allow of making graphical descriptions of
certain movements. Sir William Crookes used this
with success. I have not had the opportunity of using
any ; for I had no such apparatus at hand when 1
experimented with Eusapia Paladino. Later on, in a
series of promising experiments, the health of the
medium with whom I was operating obliged me to cease
work, before I was able to make use of my registers,

I must, however, warn experimenters against the
premature use of any kind of apparatus whatever. One
of the most curious features of psychical phenomena
is their apparent independence. The phenomena direct
us ; they do not allow themselves to be easily led.
Often they seem to obey some will other than that of
the sitters ; and it is this which forms the basis of
spiritistic belief; but, though I have not been able to
grasp its laws, my impression is that this spontaneousness
is only apparent.

Sensitives, as a rule, exhibit great repugnance to
mechanical tests. This repugnance is one of the
difficulties which repel the best predisposed minds, and
quickly leads them to the conclusion of dishonesty, an
unwarranted conclusion sometimes. I have come across
many mediums, who themselves offered me every help
in their power when devising test conditions. It is true
these mediums are private individuals of position and
education, and are extremely anxious that their psychic
powers might not be made public in any way ; for they
do not wish to expose themselves to the criticism and
abuse which is so lavishly bestowed upon mediums.
This is particularly the case with ladies,

METHOD 41

Certainly, the attacks made on Eusapia Paladino by
a badly informed press and public are not encouraging
to the more highly gifted mediums. I owe it to
Eusapia to say that, in my experiments with her, she
has always submitted to the exigencies of the most
severe test conditions. If she has sometimes given me
suspicious phenomena, she did so only under especial
psychological conditions.-^

Though I have not employed any registering appar-
atus, I have used instruments of weight and measure
particularly a letter-balance — an article as convenient
as it is easily employed. Each experimenter can and
ought to vary the conditions of experimentation accord-
ing to his wishes, within the limits which frequent
experimentation will very quickly give him. The
results obtained must be definite. To be satisfied with
approximate results in such a matter would be absolute
loss of time.

In concluding my remarks about the paraphernalia
of the seance-room, I will give one more recommenda-
tion which may seem extraordinary, but which, I have
reason to believe, is useful ; this is that there should be
no metal about the table : it is better to fasten it together
with pegs rather than with nails. This is not an
absolute condition, however, for I have obtained good
results with nailed tables ; yet my impression is that
the absence of all metal is an element of success.
Mediums are sometimes extremely sensitive to metals.
Certain sensitives complain of their rings, which seem
to make them feel uncomfortable, giving them, at
times, a sensation of exaggerated heat. This brings

1 See Appendix B.

42 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

to mind certain facts met with from time to time in
our neurotic cliniques.

II. COMPOSITION OF THE CIRCLE

The most important thing in the organisation of a
series of experiments is the choice of persons with whom
we intend to operate. First of all, it must be remem-
bered that without a medium no phenomena will be
forthcoming. The presence of some one, gifted with
the power of producing psychical phenomena, is perhaps
the only necessary and indispensable condition of their
realisation. Therefore, experimentation ought only to
be seriously thought of when in possession of that rara
avis.

What, then, is a medium.'' By what distinguishing
features can he be recognised } It is very difficult to
answer these questions.

I will give the name of ' medium ' to any person
capable of producing any of the phenomena previously
mentioned. I adopt the word ' medium,' because it is
consecrated by custom and has received the precise
signification I mention. Some philosophers criticise
this definition. Their criticisms are, I think, misplaced.
In metaphysics it is easy to give definitions which,
though elegant, are founded upon nothing. In physics
— I use this word in its etymological and primitive
sense — a being can only be defined by its properties.
Definitions of this kind state a fact, which is all we
can require of them ; they serve one purpose, which
is to avoid a long periphrase. Any other definition

METHOD 43

would lead to the supposition, that the veritable know-
ledge of the cause of the phenomena observed or of the
properties recorded, was known ; now, it seems to me
impossible to affirm the real cause of the facts I have
observed. I confine myself to stating them without
forming any hypotheses.

A medium is, therefore, a person in presence of
whom ' psychical ' phenomena can be observed. I use
this word ' psychical ' with regret, because it implies
a hypothesis.

As a rule it is necessary to experiment with mediums
in order to discover them. Their gifts are often latent,
and only reveal themselves if conditions favourable to
their manifestation are supplied. This is not always the
case, and there is generally a chance of coming across a
medium when experimenting with persons in whose pre-
sence certain irregular abnormal noises are heard, certain
movements of furniture are spontaneously produced.
Such things are far from being as uncommon as one
would think. This assertion may seem paradoxical, but
such is not the case.

I have met with good mediums who were ignorant of
the existence of their faculties ; yet, when I questioned
them, I discovered that they frequently heard little
' raps ' upon the wood of their bed or upon their
night-table, without attaching any importance to it.
Others have often noticed the displacement of ordinary
articles. Sometimes, but more rarely, the facts ob-
served are so intense that the house appears to be
haunted. We are often tempted to attribute to fraud
the phenomena of haunting. I believe accounts of
this nature are not all false, and I shall perhaps try

44 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

and show this in a future work. We must not reason
like one of my friends, a man of vast erudition and
superior intelligence, who one day said to me : ' A
little girl from thirteen to sixteen years old is always
to be found in haunted houses — as soon as the little
girl is taken away the phenomena cease ! ' Granted !
Things generally happen thus ; only the little girl
may not be the voluntary cause of the phenomena :
she may be the involuntary cause of them, a medium
in activity, producing supernormal phenomena of the
nature of those observed at spiritistic seances.

However, it must be admitted that it is very seldom
we have the opportunity of experimenting with these, so
to speak, ready-made mediums. As a rule we must
try on patiently, until the longed-for phcEnix has been
discovered.

At the same time, I ought to point out that the
chances of encountering a medium will be greater if
we look for him among nervous people. It seems to
me that a certain impressionability — or nervous in-
stability— -is a favourable condition for the effervescence
of medianity. I use the term ' nervous instability ' for
want of a better, but I do not use it in an ill sense.
Hysterical people do not always give clear, decided
phenomena ; my best experiments have been made with
those who were not in any way hysterical.

Neurasthenics generally give no result whatever.

The nervous instability of which I speak is, therefore,
neither hysteria, nor neurasthenia, nor any nervous
affection whatsoever. It is a state of the nervous
system such as appears in hypertension. A lively im-
pressionability, a delicate susceptibility, a certain unequal-

METHOD 45

ness of temper, establish analogy between mediums and
certain neurotic patients ; but they are to be distinguished
from the latter by the integrity of their sensibilities, of
their reflex movements, and of their visual range. As
a rule, they have a lively intelligence, are susceptible to
attention, and do not lack energy ; their artistic senti-
ments are relatively developed ; they are confiding and
unreserved v/ith those who show them sympathy ; are
distrustful and irritable if not treated gently. They
pass easily from sadness to joy, and experience an
irresistible need of physical agitation : these two charac-
teristics are just the ones which made me choose the
expression of nervous instability.

I say instability, I do not say want of equilibrium.
Many mediums whom I have known have an extremely
well-balanced mind, from a mental and nervous point of
view. My impression is that their nervous system is
even superior to that of the average.

This will, no doubt, surprise many well-informed
people. Medical men and psychologists, ill-disposed,
as a rule, to the study of so-called occult phenomena,
have the habit of looking upon all mediums as hysterics.
It suffices to read the works of these savants to per-
ceive they have never been in the presence of veritable
mediums. M. Paul Janet, for example — in V Automatisme
Psychologiqiie — propounds general theories which cannot
be applied to every case. It is a pity such an eminent
thinker should not have taken the trouble to make him-
self better acquainted with the facts. Perhaps he has
acted like the celebrated Abbot Vertot.^ According to

1 Vertot, an historian of the eighteenth century, falling to receive, when he
was ready for them, tlie documents upon which he counted in order to write

46 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

M. Janet's theories, all mediums are on the high road
to psychological disintegration : the constituent parts of
their personality are dissociated under the influence of the
weakening of the normal, personal activity.

I am sure the individuals observed by M. Janet have
been very carefully studied by him ; but I regret that
my learned colleague has not encountered a genuine
medium. I share his opinion concerning most spiritistic
mediums ; I have only found two interesting ones
among them ; the hundred others which I have ob-
served have only given me automatic phenomena, more
or less conscious ; nearly all were the puppets of their
imagination. It is outside spiritistic circles that I have
discovered the best mediums.

M. Janet's criticisms are only erroneous because they
are too sweeping. His conception of psychological
disintegration is applicable to the greater number of
cases ; but it does not apply to all. It is a very different
thing to study a crystal-vision, or an automatic writing
revealing nothing beyond the tenor of the sensitive's
memory, or to observe a premonitory vision such as has
been given me to do. The indication of a future event
cannot be explained by Janet's hypothesis. It reveals
especial faculties that I can scarcely consider pathological,
unless I consider them as such in the same way as one
considers genius to be a sign of degeneration.

It is more reasonable to think that our nervous sensi-
bility will become more and more refined. It is rash to

his Siege of Rhodes, finished his work for all that ; and when the documents
were handed to him, he contented himself with saying : ' I am very sorry, but I
have finished my siege.' He preferred leaving his work imperfect to beginning
it over again.

METHOD 47

believe that the present human type is the definite end
of evolution. Our species is only one link in the series
of beings ; the causes, which have led up to the
improvement of the human race, are still in activity, and
it is logical to think there are some natures above as
well as below the average. The latter represent
ancestral types — a return to cast-off forms ; the former
are perhaps precursors, possessing faculties which are
abnormal to-day, but which may become normal
to-morrow.

I must pause, for I see I am forsaking the domain of
facts for that of hypotheses ; I hasten to return thither.
I have pointed out the signs which permit us to suppose
that a certain given person is a medium ; although
these signs are not certain, they seem to me probable.
In reality, there is only one sure way of testing the
faculties of a medium : that is to experiment with
him.

It has been observed that certain people do not obtain
phenomena when they operate alone, but obtain them,
on the contrary, when with another person. I myself
have not had occasion to remark this fact, but I have
often noticed that the presence of certain people favoured
the attainment of results, while the presence of others
troubled or stopped it. I have no explanation to offer
for this fact. Certainly credulity or incredulity has no
influence whatever on the results of an experiment. I
have seen people who were very little inclined to allow
themselves to be convinced make excellent auxiliaries.
At the same time, I have seen convinced spiritists make
detestable co-operators.

It seems as if the faculty of giving forth this un-

48 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

known force were unequally distributed, that it con-
stitutes a physical property of the organism ; that, in
relation to it, some persons will be positive and others
negative, some will emit and others absorb it.

Hence the importance of the choice of co-operators —
of the composition of the circle. The number of experi-
menters is comparatively unimportant ; in principle, the
more numerous the circle the greater the force thrown
out. But the presence of a large number of sitters is
a bad condition for observation ; it also enhances the
difficulty of the realisation of, what spiritists call, the
harmony of the circle. But I ought to say that the
finest luminous phenomena, which I have seen, have been
obtained when there were from fifteen to twenty people
present. On the other hand, I have had the opportunity
of experimenting several times alone with a non-
professional medium, when I succeeded in seeing faces
which I recognised. Unfortunately, this medium — the
only one with whom I have obtained this phenomenon —
wishes to retain his incognito.

I think the most favourable number is from four to
eight. I would urge those who wish to try to experi-
ment to compose their circle, as far as possible, of an
equal number of each sex ; it is preferable to alternate
the masculine and feminine elements. These considera-
tions lead us to the examination of methods of operation,
properly speaking.

III. METHODS OF OPERATION

Before discussing in detail those methods which appear
to me to be the surest, I think it well to make a few

METHOD 49

general recommendations. The first relates to the state
of mind in which it is necessary to experiment. If
interesting results are desired it is not advisable to
laugh, joke, or mock at those practices — - however
ridiculous they may seem — with which I advise com-
pliance. Act seriously, do not make light of experi-
ments, the exact import of which we are so ignorant of.
I think we should also avoid the other extreme, which
we find in most spiritistic groups, and which impart to
these seances all the solemnity of a religious service.

The foregoing might be considered a useless recom-
mendation, which is not the case. Spiritists, whose
experience in such matters is not to be disdained, insist
on the necessity of harmony in the circle, which is, they
say, an essential condition of success. My personal ex-
perience confirms their opinion on this point. I have
often been present at sittings which promised well in the
beginning, and became suddenly barren because of a
futile discussion between the sitters. The harmony
recommended by spiritists is a kind of equilibrium
between the mental and emotional states of the sitters.
Each sitter should be animated by the same spirit — I do
not use this word in its spiritistic acceptation — and seek
only the truth ; for I take it for granted they will operate
as I have done. This unity of views, this uniformity of
desires, this harmony between brains and hearts ensures
the synergy of the forces which each member of the
circle develops.

For there is no doubt that some kind of force is
emitted, and that if the medium throws off more than
the other experimenters, an equilibrium between him
and the other sitters is nevertheless fairly quickly estab-

D

so METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

lished. The medium takes back from the latter the
force he has expended. The result is that after a suc-
cessful seance, the sitters are generally tired. I have
noticed that certain persons give out this force more
readily than others, and this perhaps explains a medium's
preference for certain experimenters as neighbours during
the seance. We must not attribute this choice to the
greater facility,which some people might offer for the execu-
tion of fraudulent phenomena. I have frequently been
thus chosen, and I beg my readers to believe that I have
a horror of fraud and imposture. I am also accustomed
to experimenting ; I feel no emotion whatever ; I keep
cool and observe with care. I am well acquainted with
fraudulent methods, and I take good care not to be
imposed upon.

I repeat, it is a mistake to attribute to fraudulent
intentions the preference shown by the medium for
such or such an experimenter. In reality, it seems
as though the medium, possessing an organism much more
sensitive than that of the majority, quickly recognises
those persons who the more easily throw off the force
which he requires to retrieve his losses. This more
rapid emission may be the result of habit, or may even
depend upon individual constitution. Eusapia quickly
discerns people from whom she can easily draw the
force she needs. In the course of my first experi-
ments with this medium, I found out this vampirism
to my cost. One evening, at the close of a sitting at
I'Agnelas, she was raised from the floor and carried on
to the table with her chair. I was not seated beside
her, but, without releasing her neighbours' hands, she
caught hold of mine while the phenomenon was happen-

METHOD 51

ing. I had a cramp in the stomach — 1 cannot better
define my sensation — and was almost overcome by
exhaustion.

This, for me, extraordinary incident astonished me
greatly, and since then I have always carefully examined
my sensations. This examination has the fault of being
purely subjective, but certain objective realities have
confirmed it. A special sensation accompanies the
emission of this nervous force, and with custom the
passage of the energy expended in a seance can be felt,
just as the interruption of its flow can be discerned. I
have questioned several experimenters about this, and
their observations have often corroborated mine.

Therefore I think I may say that some kind of force
is emitted by the sitters, which is elaborated by the
medium ; that the latter restores his losses at the expense
of the experimenters, that certain people more readily
than others furnish the medium with the force he
requires ; and that a certain sympathy of ideas, views,
and sentiments between the experimenters is favourable
to the emission of this force.

I have no decided opinion upon the nature and origin
oi this force. I think it is kindred to the energy which
circulates in our nerves, and which provokes the contrac-
tion of our muscles. Further on I shall give the
reasons which lead me to think so.

A second recommendation, no less important than the
first, in my opinion, is to treat seriously, and note
carefully all communications given through the table,
through automatic writing or raps.

I now arrive at the examination of one of the most
curious facts which so-called ' psychical ' experiences

52 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

reveal. To a certain extent the manifesting force appears
to be intelligent. Nothing permits me to affirm or
even to think, that the manifestations are due to an
entity distinct from that of the sitters. It is not my
province to discuss hypotheses : I confine myself to
the relation of facts, and in the course of my recital, I
will point out in detail the circumstances, which permit
me to signalise the apparent individuality of the mani-
festing force. As in such matters I have always thought
it better to preserve an expectant attitude, I have always
been careful never to slight the communications received
through the phenomena. I have imposed on my-
self the habit of treating these manifestations in the
manner desired by them. Every time I acted otherwise,
the results were indifferent.

Generally, the manifestations are attributed to a
deceased person, known or unknown to the sitters.
This is not absolute, for I have witnessed the table call
itself the devil, or even pretend to be a man still alive.
Automatic writing has been signed by a Mahatma ; but,
as a rule, it is the soul of a deceased person who claims
to be manifesting. This usual attribution explains
spiritistic belief. I have good reason for thinking, that
the spirits of the dead have had nothing to do with my
experiments ; but as, in reality, I am ignorant of the
cause of the phenomena which I have observed, 1 have
politely accepted the explanation these have given of
themselves. It is thus we address those whom we meet
at table d'hote, calling them by the name they give them-
selves without concerning ourselves as to who they
really are.

Therefore, whatever the changeable personification of

METHOD 53

the phenomena may be, my advice is to accept it and to
heed its observations. We must not suppose the ideas
expressed are due to the operators' unconscious move-
ments ; that may be true when the communications are
obtained through automatic writing, through a table or
articles with which the experimenters are in contact ;
but it is certainly not so when they are obtained by
raps given without any contact whatsoever, as I have
been able to prove many and many a time. As I con-
fine myself to indicating the results of my personal
experience, it is perhaps enough to say once more that
the methods 1 recommend seem good to me. I have
always noticed the unhappy consequences of my refusal
to take into account the spontaneous advice of the
personification.

The most frequently given advice concerns the placing
of the experimenters.

However, at the beginning of the sitting, the experi-
menters may seat themselves as they please. I have
already said it was generally necessary to place the
medium's chair against the curtains of the cabinet, and
to alternate the sexes. The experimenters seated, the
experiment begins. It is a good plan to choose a
manager. Nothing is worse than the absence of direc-
tion. When every one wishes to direct the proceedings,
confusion reigns in the circle, and results are bad. I
have been present at seances where every one spoke at
the same time, each one demanding a different pheno-
menon. As a rule, on such occasions nothing was re-
ceived. Some one, therefore, ought to be appointed to
conduct the experiment, especially to converse with the
personification if it express a desire for conversation.

54 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

When the sitters wish to make a report of an
experiment, it is indispensable to intrust one of the
experimenters with the task of taking notes of the
incidents as they occur. This experimenter ought to
form one of the circle.

It must not be thought that the circle can be modified
with impunity. My personal experience has shown me
it is bad to frequently introduce strangers into the circle.
It should be arranged that a series of at least six sittings
will be held without modifying the group : that no new
experimenter will be admitted : and that none of the
original experimenters will miss even one seance. Then
if at the end of six sittings nothing has been obtained,
my advice is to change the circle, to eliminate certain
elements, replacing them by others. It is preferable to
change the sitters one by one, and to make a few
experiments with the circle thus modified before making
further changes.

If interesting results be forthcoming, and a desire be
felt to show them to other people, the new sitters must
be introduced one by one, and, I repeat, at intervals of
three or four sittings. Otherwise there would be a risk
of compromising the success of the experiments.

The personification sometimes asks for the addition to
the circle of a certain person ; it is then well to invite
him to the sittings if circumstances allow of it.

I now return to the seance which, I suppose, has
begun. The sitters put their hands on the table ; it is
not generally necessary to ' form the chain,' that is to
say, to establish contact between the sitters by linking
the little fingers. The hands in position, and the room
well lighted up, we wait. Talking or singing may be in-

METHOD 55

dulged in. The emission of the voice, especially ryth-
mical emission, is an excellent condition : it is a good
thing to play some music, organ-playing is particularly
effective. Why is the production of sonorous rythmical
waves favourable to these phenomena ? I have no ex-
planation to offer for this fact, which I am not the only
one to have observed.

At the end of a few minutes, the table often seems to
be agitated. If we are experimenting with spiritists or
with people accustomed to spiritistic proceedings, the
table, raising itself, will be seen to strike the floor with
one of its legs. I advise asking the table if it wishes to
speak, and to arrange that two raps will mean ' no,' and
three raps ' yes.' Of course any other numbers or signs
will do equally well. The table, thus consulted, gener-
ally replies ' yes.' It can then be asked, if the sitters are
well placed : if it indicates any other arrangement it is
well to heed its advice.

We should then make known to the table what kind
of results are desired, and point out, particularly, that
movements with contact, failing to carry conviction, are
undesirable. I have already said that the personification
— it is thus I call the entity, whatever it may be, who
claims to be manifesting — is generally very open to sug-
gestion ; and it suffices to indicate, at the beginning of
the experiment, the objection that is made to movements
with contact to be almost completely rid of them.

There is no need to point out the object of the above
suggestion. From the special point of view of the
observation of material facts, the movement of a table
upon which the hand rests means nothing at all. I look
upon these movements as loss of time ; thev are suffi-

S6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

ciently explained by our own unconscious and involun-
tary muscular contractions. The phenomenon is only
worthy of a serious man's attention when it is produced
without contact, or without sufficient contact ; as, for
example, when the table is completely raised from the
ground, the sitters' hands resting on top of the table all
the time. It is better not to experiment than to lose
one's time in observing movements with contact, unless,
of course, we are seeking to analyse the tenor of typto-
logical messages.

I strongly recommend most carefully avoiding the
production of automatic movements. I have excellent
reasons for believing, that the agent which produces tele-
kinetic phenomena only realises them, if it has accumu-
lated sufficient force to have acquired a certain given
tension. I have already pointed out the close connection
— identity perhaps— between this agent and that which
causes our muscles to contract ; further on I shall in-
dicate experiences which give weight to this impression ;
at present it suffices to mention it, to understand
why I so earnestly recommend sitters to avoid yielding
to more or less subconscious movements from the
very outset. If, as I think, the energy which our
nervous system elaborates is closely connected with that
energy, whose effects are seen in telekinetic pheno-
mena, it is probable that it will only produce these
curious effects, in proportion as it is able to acquire a
sufficient tension for its emission. My knowledge of
physics is too rudimentary to allow me to draw precise
comparisons between this force and electricity. Never-
theless, it has seemed to me to present some analogies
with electricity, although the two are certainly not

METHOD 57

identical ; but the analogies are, perhaps, sufficient to
enable me by a comparison to make my meaning clearer.

An electrical conductor, charged with a given amount
of electricity, will have an electrical density of cr ; if the
amount increases, this density will be a', and we will
have cr'xT ; the tension in the first case will be
T = 27ro-^ in the second T' = 27rcr'^ ; T' will be greater
than T.

The conductor will remain charged, as long as the
tension does not exceed the resistance which the sur-
roundings offer to the emission of electricity ; as soon
as this resistance becomes inferior to the tension, there
will be emission of electricity.

In the case of a medium, the charge of energy in-
creases with time and relative immobility. If by making
unconscious or voluntary movements, experimenters do
not allow this energy to accumulate, it will never reach
the tension necessary for exteriorisation. There are, how-
ever, some reservations to be made ; for I have noticed,
that when the tension is sufficient, simulated or executed
movements determine the production of the motor
phenomenon — just as if the execution of the movement
appeared to liberate a quantity of energy superior to
that which was utilised by the working of the muscle ;
the excess of force was then apparently employed in the
realisation of the telekinetic movement.

I have noticed that, every time we allow voluntary or
involuntary movements, telekinetic movements are diffi-
cult to obtain. One would think, that the energy which
determines them can only accomplish them when it
cannot find a normal outlet ; it has a tendency to expend
itself normally in ordinary muscular movements : this

58 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

tendency is one of the most frequent causes of involun-
tary fraud, and the habitual occasion of voluntary fraud.
We must see that this tendency be checked : this may
call for some effort of attention at the beginning, but
' habit is second nature.'

Things being thus regulated, we wait. A first seance
is generally without apparent result, unless one has the
good luck to meet with a medium straight away — which
is not always the case. Those who seriously wish to
understand these facts must have a great fund of in-
defatigable patience. I can guarantee them success
sooner or later, but I cannot tell how many barren
experiments may be made before that success comes.
They must not grow weary ; let them progressively
modify the composition of the circle until the necessary
element be met with. They will then be rewarded for
their trouble. I strongly advise them to avoid profes-
sional mediums. Some of them are sincere, and I think
that Eusapia Paladino is of that number. It is true that
sometimes she produces suspicious phenomena, but it is
puerile to conclude therefrom that she constantly cheats.
The suspicious cases I have observed with Eusapia are
interesting, if studied impartially. They show the role
which the subliminal conscience— impersonal or bound to
a second personality — plays in the phenomena, and give
rise to attractive psychological problems.

Spiritistic mediums, whose number is legion, form
another category with whom we should not experiment,
except for purposes of especial research. Some of these
mediums are trustworthy, and one of them, Madame
AguUana of Bordeaux, has sometimes given me interest-
ing sittings. The phenomena I have observed with this

METHOD 59

medium differ greatly from Eusapia's ; they are of an
intellectual order, and raise a very complicated problem.
Madame AguUana's medianity must not be judged from
seances with her groups. These seances have the religious
character of nearly all truly spiritistic meetings. It is
difficult there for an experimenter to observe at his ease ;
the curiosity of those who seek only the objective
demonstration of a fact may appear impertinent and
out of place at such meetings. The faithful have a right
to look upon such people as intruders. Convinced of the
truth of their doctrines, they ill brook the open discussion
of them at meetings, where discussion is not wanted.
They prefer the discourses of an entranced medium to
the needless interference of the profane. Their meetings,
nearly always consecrated to the acquiring of communi-
cations, have the serious defect of developing unconscious
automatism in their medium. For me this is a conclu-
sive reason.

Madame Agullana, at some seances where only a few
experimentalists took part, gave proof of the possession
of certain supernormal faculties, which I have not observed
in the same degree of intensity at the usual sittings of her
group. This medium is also entirely reliable, and of
praiseworthy disinterestedness. She never receives any
remuneration — an important consideration — for, mediums
who take fees are more open to suspicion.

My most convincing results have been obtained with
persons unacquainted with spiritism and ignorant of its
practices. Once I discovered a medium most unex-
pectedly. He sat down with me at a table, invited to
experiment for the first time in his life. He had scarcely
seated himself when violent knockings resounded on the

6o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

floor ; this person, honourable, well-educated and intelli-
gent, is one of the most remarkable sensitives I have met
with. But as he fears ridicule, has no desire to be
scoffed at in newspapers, and, moreover, dreads publicity
of any kind, he does not wish his name to be mentioned.
These are the results of the malevolent criticisms heaped
upon experiments of this nature.

I am sure the number of mediums is much more con-
siderable than we think ; in a circle of from eight to ten
people chosen under the condition I have mentioned, it is
seldom we do not find a medium.

Of whatever sex, to whatever social status he may
belong, the medium is a sensitive. This must never be
forgotten ; and we must never lose sight of the fact, that
the phenomena will be clearer and better in proportion
as the medium's confidence and sympathy are won.

This statement will not surprise those who are familiar
with hypnotic experimentation, for they know how easy
it is to induce sleep in a person who lets himself go,
and, on the contrary, how difl^cult it is in one who resists
or who mistrusts the operator. I am persuaded that
the impersonal strata of the consciousness play a role in
psychical phenomena similar to what they play in the
phenomena of hypnotism.

Therefore, I insist on the necessity for due regard
being paid to the medium. I have had much practice,
and in all mediums I have met with extreme sensitiveness.
Those who have come under the refining influences of
education, instruction, or rank, are the most sensitive —
* touchy ' ; but this sensitiveness ought not to be inter-
preted as a sign of degeneracy. Certain contemporary
savants consider every deviation from the normal state

METHOD 6 1

as a blemish ! Such a way of thinking implies a veritable
a ■priori judgment, a begging of the question, which is
detrimental to the true development of scientific thought.
The normal man is only a mean term ; there are
individuals who are inferior to the mean, there are
others who are superior to it. Nature knows not
equality. She offers us, everywhere, inequalities, dis-
crepancies, diversities. It is the illusory unity of our
own personality, which leads us to unify and to codify
natural phenomena and even humanity itself. It is one
of the conditions of the organisation of our Sciences,
that they become intelligible only on condition of
adapting themselves to our particular form of under-
standing. Nothing authorises our supposing that this
form of understanding has any metaphysical reality ; it
may only be a subjective condition of our perception.

It is by an analogous mental process, that we give
reality to the intellectual or physical type of the average
man. Degeneracy, which is often a sliding backwards,
a relapse into inferior types, is a negative deviation from
the average man : genius is a positive variation. In
the same way, the nervous system of the imaginary
average man is but an abstraction ; in reality, the
sensibility of the nervous system of the different human
individualities varies immensely. A negative variation
will give beings who are less sensitive, less delicate
than those of the average type ; a variation in the
positive sense will give individuals of a more sensitive
and more delicate type. To consider either as abnormal
is only grammatically true : the former are infra-normal,
the latter are supra-normzl. The first have not reached
the average level, the second have passed it.

62 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Therefore, it is not astonishing that a more refined
sensitivity of the nervous system should have a corre-
spondingly greater emotivity : ' touchiness ' in itself is a
function of emotivity. This seems to me to explain a
fact which appears certain — that the feelings of mediums
are very easily hurt. A discontented, irritated medium
is a bad instrument — as I have had occasion to prove
with Eusapia and many other mediums.

I have always noticed that discontent and moral
discomfort, as well as fatigue and physical discomfort in
the medium brought about failure.

The advice I give is important to follow. Win the
confidence and sympathy of the medium by your own
sympathy, your own deference, your own loyalty. If
you detect fraud, which seems voluntary to you, do
not hesitate — after the sitting and at the first favourable
opportunity — to tell him frankly your doubts and your
impression. If you perceive an involuntary fraud, put
the medium on guard against himself, always act toward
him with sincerity, but at the same time with kindness
and courtesy.

As already pointed out, fatigue and physical dis-
comfort produce the same effects as moral discomfort.
It is unwise therefore to experiment with a sick
medium. The results would be bad from an experi-
mental standpoint, and the medium's health would
suffer. Carefully avoid experimenting too frequently
with the medium. Even three sittings a week are
really more than is desirable. We may experiment
three times a week when operating with a medium in
good form, and when the experiments are not likely
to last for more than two or three weeks. It would

METHOD 63

be bad to experiment so often or for a longer period
with a young sensitive. Two sittings a week seem the
safest number to me ; while only one ought to be made
if the medium follows a trying profession.

I have seen mediums become ill through experi-
menting too often. The abuse of experimentation
rapidly brings on nervous breakdown, and may cause
serious disorders, of which neurasthenia is the most
frequent and the least serious. Therefore I have made
it an invariable rule to experiment with non-
professional mediums, only on condition that they bind
themselves to experiment with no other than my own
circle as long as our series of experiments lasts. I am
as persuaded of the absolute innocuousness of experi-
ments prudently conducted, as I am positive of the
dangers of experimentation when frequent, prolonged,
or conducted by incompetent persons. I have no fear
of assuming the responsibility of the first, but for no
consideration whatever would I endorse, even indirectly,
the second, and I cannot too strongly recommend the
same prudence to other experimenters.

A last recommendation remains to be made ; experi-
mentation with persons of doubtful morality must be
avoided. I have no need to enlarge upon the many
inconveniences to which such an imprudent collaboration
may expose experimenters.

To sum up the indications I have just given in
perhaps too complete a fashion, I will briefly recall to
mind the conditions which have seemed the best to me :
sufficient light first of all — the personification must not
acquire the habit of operating in darkness, for the brighter
the Hght, the more convincing the experiment ; a small

64 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

room ; a light table with four legs, put together with
wooden pegs rather than with nails ; a cabinet of soft
thin curtains ; the experimenters not to exceed as a
rule eight in number ; the experimenters to agree to
experiment seriously, without turning into ridicule the
practices to which they submit themselves. It is a
good plan to allow only one of their circle to direct
the seance, to converse with the personification, to
control the proceedings. They must try and keep
up a spirit of good understanding, and refrain from
reciprocally accusing each other of pushing the table —
novices do this regularly. Discussion should be rele-
gated to the end, and should never be provoked during
the sitting. Finally, they should pay great attention to
the susceptibility of the medium — whoever he may be.

The greatest patience will be required ; the circle
should be modified with prudence, and only after a
certain number of sterile experiments.

THE PERSONIFICATION

I think it will be useful to indicate what has seemed
to me the best way of treating the personification — for
this point is important.

I give the name of' personification ' to the manifesting
intelligence, whatever this may be. As previously
indicated, this intelligence, as a rule, claims to be
the soul of a deceased person. This is not absolute,
and the phenomena may personify God, the devil,
angels, legendary personages, fairies, etc. I need
not say how far I am from believing in the reahty
of the being thus manifesting, and 1 have, as I believe.

METHOD 65

excellent reasons for doubting. I have noticed that the
role played by the personification varies with the
composition of the circle. It will always be the spirit of
a dead or living person with spiritists. But the roles are
more varied if the circle be composed of people who are
not spiritists ; it then sometimes happens that the com-
munications claim to emanate from the sitters themselves.
I am inclined to believe this is the real origin of the
communications, and that a sort of collective conscious-
ness is formed. I give my impression with the greatest
reserve, for, I repeat, I have no decided opinion upon the
subject ; but the experiments I have made leave me that
impression, in a general way. This forms part of an
— as yet — undeciphered chapter on the psychology of
crowds. I confess I have no explanation to give of the
action which such a collective consciousness appears to
have upon matter ; but this difficulty seems to me less
insurmountable than those attending the spirit hypothesis.
If we attribute the phenomena to a being distinct from
ourselves, having a will-power so much the more marked
because it emanates from a spiritual being more enlight-
ened than ourselves, I cannot understand the suggesti-
bility of such a being. Now, I beheve the personification
is, as a rule, extremely suggestible. I say ' as a rule,' for
there are occasions when it gives proof of remarkable
obstinacy : this is the exception, and I ought to say
that when the personification shows a decided will of its
own, there is no struggling against it. It is absolutely
necessary to follow the directions it gives, for, in such
cases, there is a very good chance of obtaining happy
results, while certainly nothing will be obtained by
spurning those directions.

£

66 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

There are very few people among those unaccustomed
to this kind of experimentation, who have the courage
to treat the personification as it desires to be treated :
this is a mistake. We must take a practical view of the
proceedings ; we must lay aside all pride and vanity. I
am as well aware as any one of the comical aspect of a
conversation between a grave experimenter and a being
non-existent, and I had much difficulty in conquering
the repugnance with which this manner of proceeding
inspired me. I saw therein a kind of jugglery unworthy
of a cultured intellect. Experience has clearly shown
me I was wrong, without, however, demonstrating the
reality of the being personified. Every time I looked
upon the personification as something not to be reckoned
with, I have had bad or indifferent sittings.

This does not mean, that the results have always been
in proportion to the attention I have paid the personifi-
cation. Far from it ! The personification is generally
lavish of promises — excellent things in their way, but it
would be extremely naive to put absolute faith in what
it says : we must trust only in ourselves. I do not know
if Socrates' demon ever played him false : those of his
species whom I have interviewed struck me as being of
doubtful sincerity. It would be impossible to commit a
greater imprudence than to put practical faith in the
advice of the personification, however good it may seem
to have always been.

My personal observations have generally brought me
into connection with personifications possessing more
imagination and good-will than respect for the truth.
They have promised me marvellous demonstrations,
which I am still expecting, particularly complete materi-

METHOD 67

alisations. Perhaps I am too hard to please, and ought
to consider myself lucky to have seen what I have seen.
But we are never content with our lot, and Horace's
time-honoured words are as true to-day as ever they
were.^

If I strongly recommend people not to abandon the
conduct of their life or business affairs to the personifica-
tion, I recommend just as strongly treating the latter
with the greatest possible attention. We can only form
hypotheses about its essence ; and the scepticism which
my observations, taken as a whole, have instilled into
me, may be ill-founded ; therefore it is better to treat it
with the same courtesy we show our fellow-experimenters.
This attitude is prudent ; it is also the most profitable
one. In practice, I have the same regard for the personi-
fication as for the medium. I do not call it ' dear spirit '
as spiritists do, but I find I do well to make it clearly
understand what I am seeking ; whatever in reality the
personification may be, its co-operation seems to me to
be indispensable. The resemblance between the reaction
of the personification and that of the subliminal con-
sciousness is so obvious, that I have no need to enlarge
upon it.

In practice, the first manifestation of this — probably
fictitious — being will consist in a knocking on the floor
with the leg of the table. It is well to agree upon a
code of signals. The simplest is two raps for ' no,'
three for ' yes,' five for the alphabet.

At the beginning, it will be difficult to avoid these

^ Qui fit, Mjecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem
Seu ratio dederit, sen fors objecerit, ilia
Contentus vivat, laiidet diversa sequentes ?

Satyr, i. lib. i. i.

68 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

knockings. I have already said it is desirable to dis-
courage them and to induce the personification to mani-
fest itself otherwise. It would be well to accept the
typtological code of signals above mentioned for the
first conversations, but to abandon it as soon as it has
been clearly explained to the personification, that move-
ments with contact are unacceptable. I am, of course,
speaking under the supposition that telekinetic or para-
kinetic movements are desired. If the personification,
at the end of five or six seances of an hour each, does
not begin to produce the desired phenomena, the circle
must be modified in the manner already pointed out.
These modifications ought to be patiently continued,
until a medium has been met with. The personification
might be asked to name the sitter who is to be replaced,
and, if possible, to designate his substitute. Such a
designation is often very useful. Once or twice I have
seen the table name persons whom, at the moment of
the experiment, no one in our midst had thought of — at
least consciously. Various reasons prevented the given
indications from being followed, and the experiments
were discontinued.

Movements with contact can be eliminated by the
process I have mentioned ; their elimination, made with
the consent of the personification, presents no incon-
venience, unless it be done too abruptly.

I have already said that the personification is gener-
ally very open to suggestion. We must remember that
this is a special kind of suggestibility. In hypnotism a
commanding tone of voice gives greater force to the
suggestion ; it is not the same with the personification
in question, which shows itself rebellious to all imperative

METHOD 69

orders. On the contrary, it readily yields to suggestions
made with gentleness and persistence. As a rule, I give
the object I have in view, and my reasons for setting
aside all phenomena which can be explained by uncon-
scious muscular action. I repeat, I treat the personifica-
tion as a co-experimenter. It is seldom that, thus
exhorted, it does not willingly consent to abstain from
phenomena devoid of interest, and promise more demon-
strative ones. I have already said too much faith must
not be put in such promises ; at least nine out of ten
experiments will come to nothing, and will have to be
worked out again on fresh lines.

But the experimenter's patience will not always be
tried in vain. Sooner or later he will meet with the
indispensable medium ; and his observations will then
be similar to mine.

The first supernormal phenomena are raps and oscil-
lations without contact. Sometimes the phenomenon,
from the very outset, will manifest itself with intensity ;
this is the exception ; generally the noises and move-
ments, feeble in the beginning, will grow in intensity.
As soon as raps without contact have been obtained,
certain signals must be agreed upon. The simplest way,
then, is to adopt the typtological code of signals, i.e. two
raps for ' no,' three for ' yes,' five for the alphabet. The
phenomena then become very interesting, for when the
raps are given without contact, the hypothesis of in-
voluntary movements becomes insufficient to explain
them.

I have recently received very intelligent communica-
tions in this way. We must not grow tired of having
the words repeated. It often happens that letters are

70 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

left out, or that one letter is given instead of another.
This happens particularly with neighbouring letters. In
carefully noting down the letters a very clear sense will
often be found. For example, the raps will give
Martjn for Martin, Heoriette for Henriette, etc.
We must not give up as soon as the word seems to
become unintelligible. Wait until the sentence is
finished, when it will sometimes suddenly clear itself.
It sometimes happens that the letters are dictated back-
wards. When the sentence is incomprehensible, we
must begin all over again. Even in experiments whose
aim is to obtain material phenomena, we must not
refuse to listen to demands for the alphabet, for the
personification will then often advise on the manner of
operating.

Very often the personification complains of too much
light, and during several sittings insists upon darkness.
We must politely resist it, and make it understand that
psychical phenomena lose much of their value, as soon as
they cease to be visible. I never hesitate telling the
personification, that experiments of this kind are not
convincing when conducted in obscurity, since the good
faith of the operators is then open to suspicion, and,
moreover, that phenomena can be obtained in full light.
These reasons often prevail on the personification not to
persist in asking for darkness.

In some cases, it is the personification itself who
refuses to operate in darkness. It is with personifica-
tions of this class that I have obtained the finest results.

When the pseudo-entity asks one or other of the
experimenters to leave the circle, it is prudent to yield
obedience to its behest, unless, for various reasons, the

METHOD 71

required elimination be unacceptable. In that case, it is
as well to explain these reasons to the personification,
and then it rarely happens they are not accepted.

Such are the general rules which a fairly long experi-
ence has caused me to adopt, and I have always had
reason to be glad of having followed them. In experi-
ments conducted by me, I have never received obscene
or absurd communications of which certain people com-
plain. Reflecting, perhaps, my own state of mind, I
have generally encountered personifications with scien-
tific and serious tendencies.

I have just exposed in detail, and perhaps too
minutely, the conclusions arrived at concerning the
method of operation. I now come to the indication
of the results which I have obtained, and the ascertain-
ments I have been able to make.

I will examine in succession raps, movements without
contact, luminous phenomena, and finally, intellectual
phenomena.

72 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

CHAPTER H

RAPS

I WILL not stop to consider movements with contact.
From a physical point of view they have no serious
signification whatever. They are so easily explained by
the combined, unconscious, muscular movements of the
experimenters, that it is really not worth while stopping
to examine them. The messages obtained by their
intermedium may present an internal or clinical interest,
but in that case they belong to the category of in-
tellectual phenomena, properly so-called.

The first physical phenomena, which deserves attention,
is that of ' raps.' It is generally the one most frequently
obtained. We must, however, point out that the
faculties of mediums are not identical : some produce
chiefly physical, others chiefly intellectual phenomena.
The former also manifest diverse qualities : some of
them obtain raps, others movements, others luminous
phenomena. Still in a general way ' raps ' have seemed
to me to be one of the simplest phenomena of a material
order.

If we work with a physical medium of even only
average force, raps will be heard after the third or fourth
seance. They will be heard much sooner if we have a
powerful medium.

RAPS 73

As a rule, raps seem to resound on the top of the
table ; but it is not always so. They are frequently
heard on the ground, on the sitters, or on the furni-
ture, walls, or ceiling. The raps I have heard — of
course I am speaking only of genuine raps — have re-
sounded near the medium, as a rule, either on the
table, floor, walls, or furniture in close proximity to
him.

The simplest way to obtain raps is to proceed as
I have directed in section ii. chapter i. The experi-
menters, seated around a table, lay their hands upon it
palm downwards, with outstretched fingers. This
method is not, however, to be strongly recommended,
for raps are easily imitated : and we must never lose
sight of that fact when appreciating an experiment ;
further on, I will enumerate the usual fraudulent
processes. Still, even when the hands are resting upon
the table, raps can be obtained of sufficient sonority to
exclude the hypothesis of fraud, if not absolutely, at least
with much probability.

I have received raps in full light. I have received
them so frequently in vivid light, that sometimes I
cannot help wondering, whether darkness facilitates their
production to the same extent as it may other pheno-
mena. It is, however, allowable to suppose, that the
energy which produces them prefers accumulating force
in spots that are sheltered from strong light, e.g. under
the table, or under the floor, or in shaded corners of
the room. What makes me suppose so is this, I have
frequently noticed that the raps burst forth under the
medium's hand, when they appeared to be produced on
the top of the table.

74 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Contact of the hands is unnecessary when sitting for
raps. I have procured them quite easily, with several
mediums, without such contact.

When we have succeeded in obtaining raps with con-
tact, one of the best ways of obtaining them without
contact is to let the hands rest for a certain time on the
table, then to raise them very slowly, palms downwards,
and the fingers loosely extended. Under such condi-
tions, it seldom happens that raps do not continue to
be heard for at least a short time. I need not say that
experimenters should not only avoid contact of their
hands with the table, but even of any part of their body
or clothing. The contact of clothing with the table is
sufficient to produce raps, which have nothing of a super-
normal nature. We must be careful, therefore, that
ladies' dresses especially do not come into contact with
the table ; in taking these necessary precautions, raps
can be obtained under most satisfactory and convincing
conditions.

With certain mediums the energy liberated is great
enough to act at a distance. I once heard raps upon
a table which was nearly six feet away from the
medium. On that occasion we had had a very short
seance, and had left the table. I was seated in an arm-
chair, the medium was standing by, talking to me, when
a shower of raps suddenly resounded upon the table we
had just left. The experimenters are all personally
known to me, and I am persuaded that they are above
suspicion ; but this circumstance is quite insufficient in
itself to entail a favourable conclusion of the pheno-
menon, for I cannot too strongly put experimenters on
their guard against blindly confiding in their neighbours.

RAPS 75

Serious experimenters should exclude all susceptibility
amongst themselves, and agree beforehand that reciprocal
verification and control will be freely exercised without
any one taking offence. In the case I am speaking of,
the table on which the raps were heard was about six feet
away from the medium and myself; it was daylight,
towards five o'clock on a summer's afternoon ; the table
had never been touched by the medium or the experi-
menters before the seance ; the raps were loud, and were
heard for several minutes.

I have had several opportunities of observing facts of
this kind. Once, when travelling, I came across a
medium among my fellow-travellers. He has not
given me permission to name him, but I may say he is
an honourable, highly-educated gentleman, occupying
an official position. He had no suspicion of his latent
faculties before experimenting with me. I obtained
with him loud raps in buffets and restaurants. It
would suffice to observe these raps produced under
the conditions this medium offered me, to be con-
vinced of their genuineness. The unusual noise
attracted the attention of persons present and greatly
embarrassed us : the result surpassed our expectations,
for the more we were confused by the noise of our
raps, the louder they became ; it was as though some
one of a teasing turn of mind was amusing himself at
our expense.

I have also heard, when in company with a medium,
some very fine raps given on the floor in museums
before the works of old masters, and especially before
religious pictures. I particularly remember the intensity
of certain raps I once heard when standing before a

76 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

painting representing the burial of Christ, — the work
of a celebrated artist. I also heard some fine raps in a
house which is celebrated as having been the last home
of a famous writer ; in the room in which he died, the
raps were so loud as to attract the suspicious attention
of the guardian.

I have also heard formidable raps with the two young
girls, fourteen and fifteen years of age, who were called
the Agen mediums. I observed these mediums at their
own home, and I also had them twice at Bordeaux, when
on each occasion they remained for nearly a month.
The raps produced by them are interesting, but they do
not seem to me to be demonstrative. One of these
girls obtained raps on the floor under her feet ; I verified
the apparent immobility of the foot while the raps
were being produced. When the two girls were in
bed, loud raps were heard near their feet, seemingly
given on the wood of their bed. We were able to
observe the apparent immobility of the children. Raps
were also given on the blankets ; we could feel the vibra-
tions when laying our hands on the blankets ; the raps
appeared to be produced under our hands. I have heard
diverse noises with these children in obscurity, but I draw
no conclusion therefrom. I found out that they were
not always sincere, and that they had a tendency to take
advantage of the confidence and friendliness of the
people, with whom they were staying. They have simu-
lated some of their phenomena, especially raps in the
ceiling. I have never been able to persuade these young
girls to experiment at a table with sufficient conditions of
light. They were accustomed to go to bed in order to
procure their raps. It is true I have heard these raps in

RAPS 77

daylight, but I consider other conditions were unsatis-
factory on these occasions. I regretted exceedingly that
these mediums showed so little good-will, for even
putting aside the greater part of the suspicious pheno-
mena they produced, there were still some which seemed
to be worthy of further examination.

I have touched upon my observation of these children
because it is instructive, although it may be negative
from my point of view. It shows the inconveniences of
a bad method of development. I have noticed that
psychical phenomena has a great tendency to repeat
itself, to follow a certain routine : they tend to turn
round the same axis. The children of whom I have
just spoken had been allowed to acquire the habit of
going to bed, in order to obtain the sonorous phenomena
they appeared to produce. Therefore they were able
to obtain them only under those conditions. They have
never given me a ' rap ' by means of a table, and yet, I
am inclined to think that they, or at least that one of
them, had the constitution necessary for the emission
of psychic force.

My failure with the Agen mediums was not altogether
devoid of interest, for I gained experience, and experi-
ence is only acquired with time, patience, and multiplicity
of observations. It is useful to be able to compare good,
doubtful, and bad seances.

Among my most doubtful experiences, whose recital
may be as instructive as the foregoing, I will choose, for
brief discussion, a recent series of seances which I held at
Bordeaux. Some of the phenomena I observed seem
to me difficult to explain by fraud, especially lights which
floated about the seance-room ; but the greater part of

78 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the motor phenomena was simulated. The personi-
fication had the habit of demanding total darkness, and
as I was chiefly interested in luminous phenomena, I
saw no inconvenience in putting out the lights. The
personification, which made this request, was probably
the personal consciousness of one of the sitters. As
soon as the lights were extinguished, the raps became
noticeably louder. Many of them were certainly the
work of two of our number — I have not been able to
analyse the mental state of these two young men : one
of them, who is neurasthenic, acted perhaps uncon-
sciously. Nevertheless, though I observed the whims
of these two men with interest and attention, I noticed,
at the same time, that raps were forthcoming in total
obscurity when I made imperceptible movements, e.g.
when I gently blew on the table, or when I pressed
the hand of one of my neighbours whose sincerity I
could vouch for. There was always this synchronism,
which I have already pointed out, between the muscular
movement and the rap. Without being able to affirm
it absolutely, I think I may say that my co-experimenters
were not aware of the slight movements I made with my
feet, hand, finger, or breath. In these sittings, other-
wise bearing a most suspicious character, there was,
therefore, a residue of facts worthy of attentive analysis.
I was unable to make this analysis, having shortly after-
wards ceased to experiment with the group, which these
young men frequented. In some respects I am sorry
for it, as the observation of this parcel of truth, and even
of the two fraudulent experimenters themselves, was
interesting from various points of view.

I will now reconsider the experiments I first touched

RAPS 79

upon — viz. those conducted in full light — the only ones
upon which I establish my opinion, I have indicated
as fully as possible the conditions under which I have
been able to observe raps. The raps most commonly
heard are those given with contact on the table or floor,
and then those which are given at some distance from
the experimenters.

Sometimes, but more rarely, I have heard them on
cloth, on the medium's or sitters' garments, etc. I
have heard them on pieces of paper placed on the
seance table, on books, on the walls, on tambourines,
on small wooden articles, and particularly on a plan-
chette which was used for automatic writing-. I have

ID

also observed very curious raps with a writing-medium :
— when he wrote automatically, raps resounded with
extreme rapidity at the end of his pencil. I can affirm
that the pencil did not strike the table, for several times
I very carefully put my hand on the opposite end of the
pencil, and I was then able to verify that the sound was
produced at the point of the pencil, the pencil remaining
all the time, steadily and firmly, on the paper — the raps
resounded on the wood of the table, and not on the
paper. In this case, of course, the medium held the
pencil in his hand.

Consequently, raps may be given upon various articles,
with or without contact, and even at a certain distance
from the medium. I have observed some which burst
forth as far as nine feet away from the medium. I have
not obtained any at a greater distance than nine feet, and
it is not often I have been able to observe them at that
distance. One of the most curious cases I have observed
is the following :- — I was experimenting in a room where

So METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

there was a screen. The table was about nine feet
away from this article. Very clear, distinct raps re-
sounded on the floor behind the screen. It was broad
daylight, but the raps were given on the shaded side of
the screen.

I have frequently heard raps in the seance-cabinet, the
medium seated in front of the curtains as indicated in
section il. chapter i. Thus placed, raps are easily obtained .
behind the medium : they may be given on the floor,
the wall, or on the articles placed in the cabinet. They
are also frequently given outside the curtains, on the
medium's chair, or on the floor under him. When raps
are obtained, it is very easy to study them by varying, in
many satisfactory ways, the conditions of the experiment.
This is one of the phenomena whose reality has been the
most clearly demonstrated to me.

The variety of form the raps may take is not less than
the diversity of objects upon which they may be given,
or the places in which they may be heard. The sound
of the usual rap, on a table, reminds you of the tonality
of an electric spark, while of course there are many
variations.

In the first place, we must note that the tonality of
raps difl'ers according to the object upon which they
resound. It is easy to recognise by the sound if the
raps are given on wood, paper, or cloth. This is an
interesting demonstration, because it indicates that the
sound is produced by the vibrations of the material
substance. The material molecules of the object struck
are therefore put into movement ; they are not, however,
always disturbed in the same way, for the tonality of the
raps given on the same object is susceptible of great

RAPS 8 1

variety. The raps, instead of being sharp and short, may
be dull and resemble the muffled sound of impact with
some soft body : they may resemble the slight noises made
by a mouse, a fret-saw, or the scratching of a finger-nail
on wood or cloth : they may affect the most diverse
modalities. Their rhythm is as varied as their tonality.
One of the most curious facts revealed by the observa-
tion of raps, is their relation with what I call the
personification. Each personified individuality manifests
its presence by special raps. In a series of experiments
which have now lasted for more than two years, I have
had frequent opportunity of studying raps personifying
diverse entities. One of these entities called itself ' John,'
Eusapia's control, who has retained a friendly feeling
for me, it appears, ever since my first experiments with
the Neapolitan medium. 'John' manifests by short,
sharp raps, so very like the manipulation of the Morse
telegraph, that my co-experimenters and I wondered
whether we were not actually listening to the usual
Morse signals. Unfortunately none of us knew how
to recognise letters by rhythm as exercised telegraphists
can. A group, of four individualities, who call them-
selves the ' Fairies,' manifest their presence by raps
resembling high, clear notes. These personifications
are particularly interesting, and, further on, I will have
occasion of relating how one of them showed herself
to me. The four fairies are fond of mingling in the
conversation, approving or disapproving of the ideas
expressed by the experimenters. They appear to take
considerable interest in the experiments, and I have
often noticed that it sufficed — when the raps delayed
in making themselves heard — to turn the conversation

82 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

upon psychical phenomena, their probable explanation,
their conditions of realisation, etc., in order to receive
approving or disapproving raps at once. Sometimes the
raps imitate a burst of laughter — this coincides either
with an amusing story related by one of the sitters, or
with some mild teasing. Another entity personifies a
man for whom I had the deepest affection : these raps
are graver in character. This personality seems to have
the clairvoyant perspicacity and the kindheartedness of
the man I knew. His intervention manifested itself under
very curious circumstances, but of too private a nature to
be made public. I will cite another personification of
more recent appearance. It gives itself out to be the
astronomer, Chappe d'Auteroche, and has related most
accurately the details of his life and death in California.
As a biographical notice concerning this learned man
appears in several dictionaries, notably in Larousse, it is
impossible to affirm that the irruption of this personifica-
tion is supernormal. The raps which announce his
presence are dull-sounding, and are given with a certain
amount of force. In conclusion, light precipitated raps,
weak but abundant, are the signals of certain personifica-
tions which we might call mar-joys — troublesome guests,
whose unwelcome intervention spoils the experience.

Let it not be forgotten, that if I point out the
connection existing between the personifications and
the raps, it does not follow that I accept the reality
of those personifications. I am making a statement,
and I fill in all the details, so that experimenters,
tempted to resume my observations, may know exactly
what I have observed. So far, the personifications have
not convinced me of their identity. It is true I act

RAPS 83

somewhat indifferently the role of listener to their
fatiguing and rambling conversations, and that I do all I
can to bring them back to material phenomena, so much
more important to me in that they are so much easier
to verify. Were I, however, not to point out the role
which the raps play in relation to the personification, I
would be omitting one of their most significant features,
and would not be giving their exact physiognomy.

They manifest themselves, then, as the expression of
a will and activity distinct from those of the observers.
Such is the appearance of the phenomenon. A curious
fact is the result — not only do the raps reveal themselves
as the productions of intelligent action, they also manifest
intelligence in response to any particular rhythm or code
which might be demanded.

Often the different raps reply to one another ; and one
of the most interesting experiences one can have is to hear
these raps clear and resonant, or soft and muffled, sound-
ing simultaneously on the floor, table, furniture, etc.

I have had exceptionally good opportunities of study-
ing very closely this curious phenomenon of raps, and I
think I have arrived at some conclusions. The first and
most certain is their undoubtedly close connection with
the muscular movements of the sitters. I may sum up
my observations on this point in the three following
propositions : —

1. All muscular movements, however slight, are

generally followed by a rap.

2. The intensity of the raps does not strike me

as being in proportion with the movement
made.

3. The intensity of the raps does not seem to me

84 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

to vary proportionately according to their
distance from the medium.

The following are the facts upon which I build my
conclusions : —

I, I have frequently found that when the raps were
feeble or interspersed, an excellent way of producing
them was to form a chain of the sitters' hands round the
table. One of the sitters, without breaking the chain —
which he avoids doing by taking in the same hand his
neighbours' right and left hands — makes, with his freed
hand, circular sweeps or passes a little distance above the
circle formed by the sitters' outstretched hands. Having
done this, the experimenter draws his hand towards the
centre of the circle to a variable height, and makes a
slight, downward movement with his hand ; then he
abruptly arrests the movement at about five or six inches
away from the table, when a rap invariably follows,
corresponding with the sudden cessation of the move-
ment. It is exceptional when this process does not give
a rap as soon as there is a medium in the circle who is
capable, in however feeble a degree, of producing raps.

The same experiment can be made without touching the
table, i.e. by forming the chain above the table. One of
the sitters then experiments as in the preceding case.

This is not the only observation I have made. I have
noticed that with mediums of decided power, it was un-
necessary to adopt any special method for the production
of raps, as they were forthcoming as soon as any sort of
movement with hands or feet was executed. With strong
mediums, it often suffices to move the hand above the table,
to shake the fingers, to gently press the foot upon the
ground, in order to determine the production of a rap.

RAPS 85

Needless to say with some mediums raps are forth-
coming without the execution of any movement
whatsoever : with patience nearly all physical mediums
can obtain raps without movement. But it seems as
though the execution of a movement acted in the
nature of a determining cause : the accumulated energy
then receives a sort of ^stimulus, the equilibrium is
disturbed by the addition of the excess energy unem-
ployed in the movement, and a kind of explosive dis-
charge of neuric force occurs, causing the phenomenon
of raps. This is, however, only a working hypothesis.

The synchronism between the raps and the movements
made by the sitters is very interesting, as it reveals the
connection which exists between the organism of the
experimenters and the phenomena observed. Richet has
already pointed this out, Eusapia Paladino, unconsciously
perhaps, employs a process analogous to that which I
described a little further back. This synchronism may
give, as it has given, equivocal phenomena, and may also
give rise to many false accusations of fraud. This is per-
haps how Dr. Hodgson comes to attribute certain raps
produced by Eusapia Paladino at Cambridge, to the
latter striking the table with her head. Of course, I am
unable to affirm the reality of the raps heard at Cam-
bridge, seeing I was not present at the sitting of the
Sidgwick group, I can but say, that the reading of the
few extracts of the prods verbaux of these seances — most
incomplete extracts — does not by any means indicate,
whether the movement of the Italian medium's head was
the fraudulent physical cause of the rap, or whether this
movement was but a synchronous phenomenon.

I cannot help thinking that the Cambridge experi-

86 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

menters were either ill-guided, or ill-favoured, for I have
obtained raps with Eusapia Paladino in full light, I have
obtained them with many other mediums, and it is a
minimum phenomenon which they could have, and ought to
have obtained, had they experimented in a proper manner,

I will discuss these seances more fully further on/
Therefore, even in the appreciation of fraud, we must not
forget to take into consideration the curious synchronism
I am pointing out.

There is another useful observation to make known :
namely that raps produced by synchronous movements
can be produced by the sitters themselves. In many
cases, I have seen experimenters, non-mediums, obtain
louder raps than the medium ; the presence of a medium,
however, is necessary, for, the persons of whom I speak
obtain no raps whatever when alone. Here is a subject
for study which has not yet been touched upon.

Sometimes, in order to obtain raps, it suffices to touch
the medium, or to make a slight movement with the
hand above the table, or simply to place the palm of the
hand gently on the table ; this is an excellent way to
obtain clear, decided phenomena. The table must be
moved away from the medium in such a way that contact
is impossible. The observer puts himself beside the
medium, takes both his hands in one of his own, and
moves the other slowly over the table, or even keeps it
quite still above the table. Nothing is more demonstra-
tive than this experiment. Let us remember I am
speaking of experiments made in broad daylight.

II. Secondly, I have verified that the intensity of the
raps is not in proportion with the synchronous movement.

1 See Appendix B.

RAPS 87

I am unable to affirm the accuracy of this statement with
the same confidence as with the preceding one ; but I
have observed the fact in a great many circumstances.
Thus, e.g. a very slight movement of the finger will
sometimes determine a rap, quite as loud as the rap
determined by the abrupt lowering of the whole arm.

Again, a simple muscular contraction also will bring
about the realisation of the phenomenon, without the
execution of any apparent movement.

This observation is of special interest, if I am not
mistaken, for it tends to make one suppose that the
energy which serves to produce the raps is independent
of the movement executed in space, but is connected
with the cause of that movement, i.e. with the nervous
influx. It would be well if experimenters, more
competent than I am in physiology, were to study
these observations carefully ; I sincerely hope this will
be done some day. Richet might well undertake these
researches, for no one is more competent than he is to
analyse the facts I am pointing out.

I think there is a close connection between psychical
phenomena and the nervous system. What I have just
said about the production of raps by the simple contrac-
tion of a muscle under a voluntary nervous influx is one
of the reasons upon which I base my hypothesis.

There are others. I have often questioned mediums
about their sensations when the raps were being produced.
They all acknowledged to a feeling of fatigue — of
depletion — after a good seance. This feeling is percept-
ible even to observers themselves. I have tried to
analyse my own sensations when the raps are heard ; I
have not arrived at any positive result. I cannot say I

88 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

have any decided physical sensation ; but my negative
observation is only of interest, if compared with the
diiFerent observations I made, in connection with the
production of movements without contact.

One of the mediums, with whom some of my best and
clearest raps were obtained, tells me he experiences a
feeling akin to cramp in the epigastric region when the
raps are particularly loud. This medium is a clever and
highly-educated man, one quite capable of analysing his
own symptoms. It seems to him as though something
emanated from his epigastrum.

III. Regarding my third proposition — the intensity of
the raps is not appreciably affected by distance — I have
found that raps could occur as far as three yards away
from the medium. The raps given at this distance were
as loud and clear as those given close to the medium.
This fact would at first seem to imply a difference
between the action of psychic force and that of gravita-
tion, light, heat or electricity, all of which act with an
energy in inverse proportion to the square of distances.
However, such a conclusion would be premature, for
secondary centres of accumulation of energy may be
formed at a distance from the medium. The term
' accumulation of energy ' is very vague and may be
incorrect, but I dare not give a more precise one, and
confine myself to simply stating, that the existence of
such centres of accumulation and emission seems indicated,
by the manner In which the phenomena are obtained.

I have never verified any serious physical effects at a
greater distance than that of ten feet. I will add that If
the phenomena are not more intense, they are at least more
frequent in the immediate neighbourhood of the medium.

RAPS 89

Such are the observations I have been able to make.
It may quite naturally occur to my readers to think I
have been the victim of illusion or fraud. This is not
the case, however.

There is no illusion, simply because nothing permits
me to suppose I am the victim of illusion. This asser-
tion is insufficient, I admit : we are bad judges of
ourselves. And now I ought to say, that if up to the
present I have always clearly distinguished between real
facts and subjective impressions, I present, nevertheless,
two phenomena which may render my testimony suspect.
The first is hypnagogic hallucination, the second coloured
audition. The latter is not very decided ; sound simply
awakens in me the idea of colour, not the visual sensa-
tion of colour. My chromo-phonetic scale is A, white ;
/, black ; £, grey ; £, blue ; on^ green ; er, air, ceil,
orange, etc.^ This phenomenon was rather marked when I
was a child ; but, I repeat, the reading of vowels or diph-
thongs, or the audition of sounds has never awakened a
complete sensation of colour ; the idea only was evoked.

On the contrary, hypnagogic illusion is, with me, a
decided phenomenon. The illusion is exclusively visual.
I have carefully observed this interesting faculty on
myself ; it appears to me to have its origin in dream. It
is a dream begun before sleep has taken complete
possession of one. The hallucination disappears as soon
as somnolence ceases. It is with extreme difficulty that
I am able to retain — even for a second — a hypnagogic
picture, when I regain complete consciousness ; in spite
of all my effiDrts, the picture fades away or changes form

• This scale is applicable to the French pronunciation of the vowels in
question.

90 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

as soon as I fix my attention upon it. I have seldom
been able to maintain the illusory impression.

We must not conclude, that I am incompetent to
distinguish a real phenomenon from a false one, because
of the existence in myself of these two subjective pheno-
mena. I have indicated the results of my self-observa-
tion in order to be thoroughly sincere and complete, for
I have the keenest desire to be an accurate witness. I
do not think, however, that the observations I have been
able to make upon myself are really of a nature to cast
suspicion upon my faculties of observation. Quite the
contrary, I should say ; because my personal experience
enables me to recognise hypnagogic hallucinations, and,
further on, I will point out some phenomena which seem
to me to be closely connected with these hallucinations ;
but as for raps, they have quite a different character, and
their objectivity appears quite certain to me.

I will add that every one present can and does hear
them. Let me recall to mind what I said about the raps
I heard in railway refreshment rooms, restaurants, and
other public places. All who were in the same room
showed, by their demeanour, that they too heard the raps.
This circumstance suffices to exclude the hypothesis of
hallucination. I propose registering these raps in a
phonograph ; this will be the experimentum crucis as far
as their objectivity is concerned.

I have no manner of doubt whatsoever upon the
authenticity of raps, a phenomenon I have heard so
frequently, and under such diverse and excellent condi-
tions. I have also taken care to study the different ways
of simulating raps, — and these are indeed manifold.

The simplest and most perfect method is to gently glide
— an imperceptible movement — the finger-tips along the

RAPS 91

table. The results are better when the finger is dry, when
the natural grease has been previously removed by turpen-
tine or benzine : resin is good, but leaves traces. Under
these conditions, slight but clear raps may be obtained.
The movement of the finger is so slow, that, unless fore-
warned, no one can discover it ; but, with attentive obser-
vation, a slight vibration of the finger may be perceived
when the raps burst forth. They can also be simulated
with the finger-nails, but this process is easy to unmask.

The trickster finds greater security in darkness, where
he has resources other than those just mentioned. In
obscurity he can easily imitate the raps which resound on
the floor ; e.g. he can produce dull raps by skilfully
striking his foot against the legs of the table or on the
floor ; he can simulate the sharp, quick raps by allowing
his boot to glide slowly along the feet of the table or chair.

Raps are also very easily simulated by a gentle rubbing
of clothing or linen, especially shirt-cuffs. We should
beware of this, for raps can thus be produced by slow
unconscious movements, and the good faith of the
experimenters may be involuntarily taken by surprise.

There is yet another way of obtaining fraudulent raps ;
this is by leaning more or less heavily on the table.
When the top of the table is thin, or when the table is
badly put together, or the parts have too much play, the
variations of the pressure of the hand determine noises
which greatly resemble raps.

Lastly, I have sometimes observed raps produced in a
way which should be made known. Some people, by
leaning the foot in a certain way, and by contracting the
muscles of the leg, can imitate raps on the ground. This
fact has been indicated especially in connection with the
sinews of the musculus peronaeus longus. I observed a

92 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

medical student, an incorrigible cheat and neurotic, who
obtained sounds very similar to authentic raps by leaning
his elbow on the table, and making certain movements
with his shoulder. There are also some people who can
make their joints crack at will.

But force of habit soon teaches how to ferret out
fraud, when working in daylight or with good artificial
light. Besides, the tonality of authentic raps is charac-
teristic, and the method of simulation indicated at the
beginning of these remarks, i.e. finger-gliding, is the
only one able to reproduce some of the raps with even
a fair amount of exactness.

It does not seem to me to be possible to simulate raps
on the table, when they are produced without contact.
It is easy to localise them, and auscultation of the table
enables us even to perceive the vibrations of the wood.
Precautions, easily taken, enable us to make sure of the
absence of contact and communication between the ex-
perimenters and the table.

To sum up, I am certain — as far as it is reasonably
possible to be certain of anything in such a matter — that
knockings of variable rhythm and tonality are heard in
the presence of certain persons — knockings or ' raps '
which cannot be explained by any known process. They
are heard at diverse distances ; they often seem to obey
the expressed wishes of the sitters, and to manifest a
certain independent intelligence. On the other hand,
their production appears to be intimately connected with
the nerve-energy of the medium and the sitters.

I think I am able to express the foregoing conclusions
with certainty and confidence.

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 93

CHAPTER III

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS

I. PARAKINESIS

I APPLY the term parakinesis to the production of those
movements where the contact observed is insufficient to
account for them. I thus more especially designate the
complete levitation of a table upon which the sitters
are leaning their hands ; also the displacement of heavy-
pieces of furniture which are but lightly touched by the
medium alone, or with other experimenters. Levitation
is the raising of an object from the ground without that
object resting on, or being in any contact whatsoever
with, any normal support.

I have frequently observed this phenomenon with
Eusapia Paladino under satisfactory conditions of light
and other tests. She has given me several unimpeach-
able examples of parakinetic levitation, and, I repeat, in
full light. A detailed report will be found in the
accounts of seances at I'Agnelas, published in 1896 in
the Annales des Sciences Psychiques.

These accounts, however, give only the physiognomy
of the regular seances. We sometimes improvised
experiments in the afternoon with striking results ;
and I remember having observed under these condi-
tions a very interesting levitation. It was, I think, at

94 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

about five o'clock in the afternoon ; at all events it was
broad daylight in the drawing-room at I'Agnelas. We
were standing around the table ; Eusapia took my hand
and held it in her left, resting her hand on the right-hand
corner of the table. The table was raised to the level
of our foreheads ; that is to say, the top of the table
was raised to a height of about five feet from the
floor.

Experiences like this are very convincing. It was
utterly impossible for Eusapia, given the conditions of
the experiment, to have lifted the table by normal
means. One has but to consider, that she touched
only the corner of the table to realise what a heavy
weight she would have had to raise had she done so
by muscular eflx^rt. Moreover, she had no hold what-
soever of the table. And, given the conditions under
which the phenomenon occurred, she could not have
had recourse to any of the means suggested by her
critics, such as straps or hooks of some kind.

In ordinary seances, the table used to be raised to a
lesser height ; perhaps because we were seated, and could
not therefore accompany it very far. As a rule, the
levitation was preceded by oscillations ; the table raised
itself first on one side, then on the other, and finally left
the ground. Very often Eusapia, holding her neigh-
bours' hands, would abandon all contact with the table,
and make several passes above it, when the table would
rise, apparently of its own accord.

I have only obtained parakinetic levitation under
really good conditions with Eusapia. I have observed
more decided movements without contact v/ith other
mediums, but they have not given me levitations

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 95

properly so-called, I have once or twice obtained
defective levitations with a non-professional medium.
The table drew near to her of its own accord, and raised
itself while touching her dress. This fact occurred in
the light, but the conditions under which I observed it
were imperfect. I may say the same thing of some
levitations I obtained at Bordeaux with rather an
interesting professional medium ; these levitations took
place in total obscurity, which rendered good conditions
of control impossible ; besides no one held the medium's
hands and feet, as had been done with Eusapia.

In a series of experiments which gave me some results
worthy of careful examination, I obtained the levitation
of the table under slightly better conditions. But some
of the sitters cheated so barefacedly, that I do not
consider I ought to take any serious notice of the
parakinetic movements I witnessed there ; although I
have the impression that everything was not simulated
which happened in this group. The unsatisfactory con-
ditions under which I made this series of experiments led
me to discontinue them.

I consider that the levitation of the table, even with
the contact of the hands, is a difficult phenomenon to
obtain under good conditions of observation. Up to
the present, Eusapia Paladino is, I repeat, the only
medium with whom I have been able to verify the
phenomenon in a satisfactory manner.

Her method is similar to the one I indicated and
recommended to my readers. Phenomena is often
forthcoming when she raises her hand above the table.
Although I do not consider myself authorised to affirm
the reahty of the effect this method appears to exercise

96 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

upon the phenomenon of levltation, I indicate it because
the positive results, which similar practices have given me
in telekinetic experiments, lead me to think it may also
answer for parakinetic experiments. Let me briefly
explain this method. When the experimenters have
their hands on the table, and the latter begins to sway
about from side to side as if it were trying to raise itself,
one of the sitters puts his hand above the table, palm
downwards, and approaches it to within two or three
centimetres of the top. Then he raises it very gently ;
while doing this, the levitation sometimes takes place as
though the hand drew the table after it.

I recommend experimenting with as much light as
possible. We must not forget that nothing is easier to
simulate than a parakinetic levitation. Force of habit
will soon teach us how to recognise fraudulent pheno-
mena of this kind, but it is nevertheless important to
know beforehand the principal systems of cheating.
With the reader's permission I will indicate them.

The position, which the experimenters are obliged to
assume around the table when they are seated, has the
consequence of almost completely hiding their feet. As
soon as the lights are lowered, it is nearly impossible to
exercise that mutual control which it is indispensable
should be exercised. Now, when the hands rest a little
forcibly on the table, it is very easy, especially with a
light table, to glide the point of a shoe under one of the
legs of the table and to raise it above the ground. This
manoeuvre is all the easier, as the swaying of the table
from side to side permits one to effect the movement,
without much fear of detection. Needless to say that
hooks attached to the wrist, or specially contrived

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 97

bracelets, also permit of raising and holding the table in
the air. But it is easy to protect oneself against fraud
of this nature. Let every one stand up and join hands
in the centre of the table; the kind of fraud I indicate
will then be impossible. I myself have often obtained
fine levitations in this way, but unfortunately in
obscurity.

I will point out still another fraudulent process prac-
tised at times by professional mediums. It consists in
the following manoeuvre. The medium places himself
at the narrow end of a table, — in preference a rectangular
one — he promotes various oscillations, and when he has
succeeded in raising the end opposite to him, he spreads
out his legs in such a way as to exercise a strong hold
over the feet of the table, between which he is sitting.
Once this pressure is exercised, there is nothing more for
the medium to do, in order to obtain a levitation, than
to lean his hands heavily on the table. It is easy to
understand how the table, maintained in position by the
trickster's knees, executes a rotatory movement around
an axis the points of which are fixed by the pressure
of the knees ; consequently the table, becoming parallel
with the ground, appears to be abnormally levitated.
This simulation can be successfully realised, even when
some one is seated on a chair on top of the table ; under
the pretence of offering a better condition of control, the
medium takes the hands of the person on the table, and
finds in him the point of support required to promote
the rotation of the table around its axis. We should
keep this kind of fraud before the mind's eye when
seeking to obtain levitations, especially if operating in
obscurity, for then this trick is most easy of execution.

G

98 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Once again, I cannot too strongly warn experimenters
against dark seances : they are absolutely worthless when
paranormal phenomena are required. These ought to be
obtained in full light ; under such conditions the levita-
tion of the table is a verifiable phenomenon.

II. TELEKINESIS

I will now relate my observations upon telekinesis,
that is to say, movements without contact. Telekinesis
corresponds with V exteriorisation de la motricite^ discovered
by Colonel de Rochas. It is a phenomenon which I
have taken particular pains to verify. I have had
exceptionally good experiences in this phase of mani-
festation.

I verified telekinetic phenomena with Eusapia Paladino
first of all. When operating with this medium, the
seance-table was often elevated without contact. As a
rule, Eusapia formed the chain of hands around the table
without touching it ; at the end of a few seconds, she
would make some passes over the table with her right
hand, retaining her hold of her right-hand neighbour's
hand at the same time : the table would then leave the
floor, and remain suspended in the air for several
seconds. It fell to the ground heavily as a rule. This
experiment was made several times in my presence under
satisfactory conditions of light.

It was not only the table which moved with Eusapia :
the curtains of the cabinet were often thrown over
the table, as if a strong wind had blown them out. This
phenomenon was particularly noticeable at I'Agnelas,
where we experimented in front of the curtains of one of

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 99

the drawing-room windows. These curtains were made
of heavy silk material, and nothing was more curious
than to see them swell out and suddenly stretch over us.
The manner in which they were thrown over our heads
was peculiar ; it was as though they had been blown out.
Without an adapted instrument of some kind, I do not
think it was possible for the medium to produce this
phenomenon fraudulently with her hand. I obtained
the same characteristic movements of curtains with
another medium.

With Eusapia, the sitters' chairs were frequently dis-
placed, shaken, raised, and even carried on to the table.
I cannot conceive how Eusapia could have obtained such
results normally, considering the strict test conditions
exacted at I'Agnelas. We had been courteously ac-
quainted with the results of the Cambridge seances, and
our attention had been very specially drawn to the
fraudulent practices of this medium. One of us held her
feet and her waist, while the mission of two others, seated
on either side of her, was to observe her hands. It is
relatively easy to know if we hold a right or left hand :
it suffices to carefully note the position of the thumb,
which ought always to be turned towards the observer if
the hand be directed palm upwards, and which ought to
be turned towards the medium if the hand be directed
palm downwards. It is unnecessary to hold the me-
dium's hand tightly in order to be aware of its position :
an ordinary contact, intelligently superintended, is quite
enough ; it is of course necessary to make sure of the
simultaneous contact of thumb and fingers. Now, in
a certain number of cases, the check upon the medium
was good, when the chair of one of the sitters was carried

loo METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

on to the table. It is also to be noted, that Eusapia
would have been forced to lean forward in a very-
marked manner, in order to seize her neighbour's chair
and carry it on to the table ; the inclination of her body
would have been easily perceived, especially as the chair
was first of all drawn away from under the experimenter
and then raised on to the table, manoeuvres which occu-
pied some time.

Other phenomena of the same kind were, however,
produced in a more conclusive manner. I remember
having seen the lid of a trunk, which was placed behind
the experimenters and to the left of Eusapia, open and
shut of its own accord.

Lastly, I obtained with this medium a very convincing
phenomenon, which M. de Gramont had already verified
at I'Agnelas after my departure. This is the movement
at a distance of the scale of a letter-balance. I made the
experiment at Bordeaux in the presence of a few intel-
ligent and educated persons. We operated in a light
which was strong enough to enable us to read the faintly
marked divisions on the scale. This object had just
been purchased by me, and I had drawn it from its
wrappings just prior to the experiment. Before our
eyes Eusapia repeatedly made the scale go down by
raising and lowering her hands, palms downwards.
Eusapia's hands were from three to five inches away
from the letter-balance ; she performed the movements
described without abandoning her neighbour's hands.
We obtained the lowering of the plate of the balance
several times, each time varying the position of the
medium's hands, placing them in front of the apparatus
in such a manner as to form a triangle of which the

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS loi

plate was the apex, and bringing the medium's hands
together so that the angle at the apex became very
acute. This was done in order to obviate the possibility
of the medium producing the effect by means of a hair
or thread between her fingers. I must point out,
however, that a hair or thread would have been visible.

By turning her hands round, that is to say by direct-
ing them palms upwards, Eusapia raised the plate of the
letter-balance to its full extent when it was weighed
down by a pocket-book. By measuring the oscillations
of the index-needle, we were able to ascertain that the
force employed was at least one ounce superior in weight
to that of the pocket-book.

The facts I verified with Eusapia, I was able to prove
again through other mediums, non-professional. On
two occasions, I obtained fine telekinetic phenomena in
a public restaurant. I was in the company of a good
sensitive, a highly intelligent man, but one who knew
little or nothing of spiritism. The first time I was
breakfasting with him ; we were seated at a fairly large
table, near which was a small round one ; the cloth which
was covering our table touched the small one. We
first heard several fine raps, and then the small table
drew gradually nearer till it touched the big one. There
had been a displacement of eleven inches. It was
broad daylight, and the conditions under which I ob-
served this fact completely exclude — at least in my
opinion — the hypothesis of fraud. Another time we
were lunching together. I was seated at the left-hand
side of the medium, and we were alone at our table.
Two chairs were facing us, while a third one was on the
medium's right, facing another table. The chair to the

I02 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

right of the medium approached the table, and then
retreated at our request. The ch:x\r facing me reproduced
the same movements. The light was so bright that I

Chair.

Chair.

Maxwell. Medium.

was able to observe the hands and feet of the medium
with the greatest ease.

These plain, decided, easily observable, and well-
observed facts are among the most convincing I have
received. The medium's position, the bright light, the
full liberty of verification which was permitted me,
rendered these observations extremely convincing to me.
The measuring of the distances between the table and the
object in movement excludes the hypothesis of halluci-
nation on my part. I therefore consider that all possi-
bility of fraud or hallucination was out of the question.

Previous to the movements, I had established contact
with the chair in front of me, by means of one of those
wooden holders to which newspapers are attached in
restaurants and buffets. The chair in approaching us
pushed the newspapers towards us, and we were thus
enabled to watch the horizontal progression of the chair.

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 103

The distance travelled by the chair was from seven to eight
inches. The objects moved in a jerky, irregular manner.
I have been able to observe telekinetic table move-
ments on many occasions, and always in broad daylight.
Perhaps the most curious movement I have seen is
the following : A lady and gentleman once did me the
honour of inviting me to witness certain phenomena
which they were often able to obtain when experimenting
together ; these phenomena consisted in slight displace-
ments of a table. They reproduced these movements
without contact in my presence. I then begged them
to form a chain with me around the table, always with-
out touching it of course. This table, a light tripod,
the top of which measured eleven inches by twenty-
one inches, was in contact with the dress of my
hostess. After having executed several diverse gliding
movements — approaching or retreating at request — the
table began to raise itself and to strike the floor with
one of its feet. We spelt out the alphabet, and
received a typtological communication. During this
performance, the table was in contact with the dress
only. The dress did not hide the feet of the table, the
contact was simply lateral, and the table could be seen
in entirety. It was daylight, and it would have been
easy to detect the slightest movement of the dress.
Moreover, the table raised one of its feet which was
not in contact with the dress. I did not try — because I
did not wish — to remove the contact of the dress, for I
had often observed this bulging out of women mediums'
dresses : as soon as the garment comes near the table
and contact is established, the movement is produced. I
have often checked the position of the medium's feet,

I04 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

while the phenomenon was happening, and I have been
able to verify that the slight contact was with the dress
only, and not with the feet. This curious fact has
already been observed by Richet and others, in connec-
tion with Eusapia Paladino. I will add that I have
often obtained movements without any contact what-
soever, even that of garments.

Another medium has enabled me to verify telekinetic
movements of curtains. They were less violent than
with Eusapia, but more decided, and enabled me to make
some observations which are not altogether lacking in
interest. I was once experimenting with the medium in
question, in subdued light, contrary to my usual custom.
It was in the daytime, but we had closed the shutters of
the window and drawn the curtains together, in order
to form a kind of cabinet. We were trying to obtain
luminous phenomena, which, however, were not forth-
coming. The medium had his back turned towards the
curtains. I noticed that the curtains stirred now and
then. I drew the attention of an experimenter to this,
and at first we attributed the movement to a slight
draught. We drew the curtains together completely,
and then observed that only the curtain close to the
medium stirred. It was light enough to see the hands
and feet of our medium, and we were able to convince
ourselves, that the movements were not normally pro-
duced by him. We then noticed that the movements of
the curtain corresponded with our movements. The
experiment was repeated with success twenty times. We
varied the movements and were able to observe, that the
maximum disturbance of the curtain occurred, when the
medium rubbed the head of one of the experimenters.

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 105

The curtain was not blown out over the table as with
Eusapia. The movements simply consisted of a species
of undulatory trepidation, whose amplitude did not surpass
five or six inches : it was like the sinuous undulations of
a rope, when shaken at one of its extremities.

Such are the principal facts which I have been able to
observe. I will not have much to say concerning the
method of operation, for I have already sufficiently
indicated how I proceed habitually. I have, neverthe-
less, two important remarks to make.

The first is, that the presentation of the palm of the
hand towards the object, which we wish to displace,
often brings about the movement. 1 proceed in the
manner I have indicated for a parakinetic levitation, but
instead of presenting the palm of the hand to the top
of the table and then drawing it slowly away, I direct
it towards the side of the table, and I act as though I
wished to attract or repulse the table. I have noticed
that this practice gives good results.

The second remark I wish to make is, that when
desirous of obtaining movements without contact, it is
helpful to form the chain around the table by holding
each other's hands. Still, I do not think this precaution
is indispensable, for I have obtained telekinetic move-
ments without its aid. It seems to me, however, that
it is a method to be recommended, especially in the
beginning of the seance.

I have just said that the chain of hands is not indis-
pensable. And, as an example, I remember having
once verified some telekinetic movements which inter-
ested me very much. I was conversing with a private
medium : by the way, all the telekinetic phenomena of

io6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

which I have been speaking, save those obtained with
Eusapia Paladino, have been obtained with private
mediums. In the course of our conversation we pro-
nounced the name of a personification, whose irruption
in our midst had been as sudden as unexpected. This
personification behaves like a cautious and well-advised
experimenter, and conducts himself as, I think, I would,
if 1 co-operated on the other side in the experiments I
am speaking about. Hardly had I pronounced this per-
sonification's name than the table began to glide gently
across the floor. We questioned it, and according to our
request, it approached or retreated from the medium.
The movements of the table alternated with raps. I
content myself with merely stating this curious fact,
without allowing myself to draw any conclusions there-
from ; it appears to me to offer a striking example of
that apparent spontaneity, which psychical phenomena
sometimes present.

From the account I have just given of some of my
experiments in parakinesis and telekinesis, we may
deduct the following propositions : they resume, fairly
exactly, the points of fact I have been able to ascer-
tain :—

I. There is a certain correlation between the move-
ments of the medium or assistants and the movements
of the objects used in experimentation.

II. Certain peculiar sensations accompany the emission
of the force employed.

III. That force has a probable connection with the
organism of the assistants.

I. Nothing is easier to verify than the correlation
existing between the movements of the medium or

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 107

sitters, and those of the object with which we are ex-
perimenting. I may say, that almost without exception,
the movements of the operators are, in a way, reflected
by the table. I have already pointed out, that move-
ments of attraction or repulsion attracted or repulsed
the table. I have remarked this peculiarity on several
occasions. When, in a seance, the presence of a certain
force manifesting itself in raps and oscillations without
contact is established, it often suffices for one of the
sitters to direct his hand towards the table to bring
about its immediate displacement. By proceeding in
the manner indicated further back, I have noticed that
complete levitations could be obtained ; but it is then
necessary for the sitters to put their hands on the
table, while one of their number puts one of his hands
in the centre of the table, and palm downwards slowly
raises his hand. Levitations without contact can certainly
be obtained by the same method, by simply forming a
chain of hands around the table without touching it ;
but the results are less difficult to obtain when the hands
are laid on the table.

Levitation seems to me more difficult to realise than
gliding movements. I have frequently obtained the
latter without contact, by directing the palm of my
hand towards the table, and trying to draw it after me
as though an elastic thread united the table to my hand.
Under these conditions the table seems to obey a kind
of attraction.

I think I have some observations to make on this
subject, but I cannot formulate them with much certi-
tude, and I only point them out in order to provoke —
if that be possible — the examination of these facts by

io8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

persons more competent than I am. First of all, it is
not always the medium who obtains the best results in
the manoeuvre 1 indicate. I have seen some experimenters
obtain more marked movements than the sensitive
himself. This is not generally the case, but the fact
does not appear to me to be rare. It is rather discon-
certing, because those persons, who in a seance manifest a
force relatively greater than the medium's, cannot obtain
any supernormal fact when alone ; the presence of a
medium is necessary for the energy of their action to be
manifested. I wonder if this be not due to the medium's
inexperience. I never observed this pecuHarity in
seances with Eusapia, although the sitters could, in her
presence, produce certain phenomena themselves. I
have only noticed it with the non-professional mediums,
who kindly consented to allow me to experiment with
them. Nearly all of them had no notion whatever of
psychical experimentation ; most of them, were alto-
gether ignorant of the practices of spiritism ; and many
were frightened by their first phenomena. These
mediums have not the tranquillity and presence of mind
of myself and friends, whom a long experience has freed
from all kinds of bias. Perhaps, therefore, they do
not operate under such good conditions as we do, or as
more experienced mediums would. Whatever may be
the reason, I note the fact observed.

A second interesting observation I have to make is
the unequalness of the radiations or emanations which
appear to issue from the back or palm of the hand.
The action of the palm is decidedly more energetic than
that of the back ; as an example, I will recall to mind
the experiment with the letter-balance. To lower it.

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 109

Eusapia lightly moved her hand from top to bottom,
palm downwards ; to obtain the contrary movement,
she turned her hand in the opposite direction. There
are certain obscure peculiarities to elucidate in this curi-
ous unequalness. It is desirable to study it, for it is
one of the rare points where experimentation is really
possible, in the studies of the kind I am setting forth.
It is to be noted, and this is I think a very important
consideration, that the innervation of the palm of the
hand is much more abundant than that of the back.

In what concerns movements without contact, I have
not noticed any unequalness of action between the two
hands : the left hand appears to act quite as well as the
right.

In the third place I have verified a correlation, between
the intensity of the muscular effort and the abnormal
movement. This is an interesting observation, for I
have not observed it when studying the phenomenon of
raps. As an example, I will cite an experiment which I
have often made. When the liberated energy is in-
sufficient to provoke movements, and the existence of a
certain quantity of force has, nevertheless, been ascer-
tained, if the manoeuvre of attraction does not succeed,
we can sometimes provoke the movement by shaking
the hand about at a certain distance above the table.
This rapid movement of the hand and arm appears to
me to develop a maximum of telenergy.

Again, rubbing the feet on the floor, rubbing the
hands, the back, the arms, in fact any quick or slightly
violent movement appears to liberate this force. These
manoeuvres often bring about the realisation of the
desired phenomenon. It is evident that such manoeuvres

no METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

must be employed with discernment ; some of them
might hamper observation : e.g. rubbing the feet on the
floor if telekinetic movements of the table be desired,
for this would render it difficult, if not impossible, to
check the position of the medium's feet.

The breath appears to exercise a great influence ;
things happen as though in blowing on the object,
the sitters emitted a quantity of energy, comparable to
that which they emit, in quickly moving their limbs.
This is a strange peculiarity, one which is apparently
very difficult to explain.

A more thorough analysis of the facts permits us to
think, that the liberation of the energy employed depends
upon the contraction of the muscles and not upon the
executed movement. The fact which reveals this peculi-
arity is easily observed. When the chain round the
table is formed, a movement without contact can be
procured by tightly squeezing one another's hands, or by
resting the feet very firmly on the floor : the former is
by far the better process. The limbs have executed an
insignificant movement, and we may say that the muscular
contraction is about the only physiological phenomenon
visible to observers ; it is nevertheless sufficient.

These ascertainments all tend to show that the agent,
which is the determining cause of movements without
contact, has some connection with our organism and
probably with our nervous system.

Other reasons also tend to prove this. Thus it is
that the number of experimenters influence the pheno-
mena to a certain degree. The levitation of a table is
easier to obtain with five or six persons than with one or
two. It is very difficult to arrive at any precise con-

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 1 1 1

elusion on this point, for the observations I have read
are contradictory. In so far as my personal experience
is concerned, I have the impression that, within certain
limits, the quantity of force liberated varies in direct
proportion with the number of experimenters. Never-
theless, a certain number should not be surpassed if we
wish to experiment under good conditions. But I think
that the diminution of results may have other causes than
the diminution or increase of the number of sitters. I
believe that if we could assemble a number of homogeneous
elements, we would obtain excellent results. This would
explain the so-called miracles, which are said to have oc-
curred in certain primitive congregations, where beliefs
were strong and convictions profound. This unity of
belief and ideas, and the material and moral regimen, to
which every member of the community submitted, deter-
mined that harmony which is a fundamental condition for
the production of good phenomena. It is in this way that
historical and contemporary ' miracles ' may be explained.
But in the present state of society it is very difficult
to unite six or eight persons having identical ideas and
submitting themselves to an identical discipline ; and I
have always thought that the harmony of a circle was
more important than the number of its members.

I have just pointed out in detail certain purely physical
processes for provoking the production of paranormal
phenomena. They give good results when the force is
feeble ; but as soon as the force is abundant, the simple
manifestation of the will is sometimes sufficient to decide
the character of the movement ; e.g. the table will move
in the direction asked for by the sitters. Things
then happen as though the force was handled by an

112 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

intelligence distinct from that of the experimenters, I
hasten to say, that this seems only an appearance to me,
and that I have observed certain similarities between
these personifications and secondary personalities of
somnambulism. But 1 would not be giving an exact
physiognomy of the facts observed, did I not lay stress
upon this curious trait of their character.

In this apparent union between the indirect will of the
sitters and the phenomena there is a problem, the solution
of which escapes me so far completely. I feel that there
is nothing of a supernatural order in this union : I also
feel, that the spirit hypothesis is altogether inadequate to
explain it ; but I am unable to formulate any explana-
tion. This is one of those points of fact which I confine
myself to pointing out.

The attentive observation of the relation, existing
between the phenomena and the will of the sitters,
permits of the demonstration of other facts. Firstly,
the bad effect of discord between the sitters. It often
happens that one of them expresses a desire to obtain a
certain given phenomenon ; if the requested phenomenon
be not immediately forthcoming, the same experimenter
will demand a different one. Sometimes, several of the
sitters ask for several contradictory things at the same
time. The confusion which reigns in collectivity is
generally manifested in the phenomena, which, in their
turn, become vague and confused.

Still, things do not altogether happen as though the
phenomena were directed by a will, which was only an
echo of the will of the experimenters. The phenomena
often manifest great independence, and refuse decidedly
to yield to the desires of the experimenters. By admit-

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 113

ting even Janet's hypothesis on the secondary personalities
of mediums, stretching it from cases of somnambulism to
cases of telekinesis, a fact which is very curious from a
purely psychological point of view is to be met with
occasionally : the secondary personality sometimes mani-
fests itself at the same time as the normal personality,
and a conflict between them is the result. I have seen
this with Eusapia, when, for example, she wanted to
drink, and the table violently opposed itself to her
wishes.

To sum up my observations upon the first of my
conclusions : There is a close and positive connection
between the movements effectuated by the medium or
the sitters, and the displacement of articles of experi-
mentation ; there is a relation between these displace-
ments and the muscular contractions of the experi-
menters ; a probable relation, whose precise nature I
am unable to state, exists between the will of the
experimenters and paranormal movements.

II. Certain peculiar sensations accompany the emission
of the force employed. I hesitated before deciding to
formulate this conclusion, because, notwithstanding the
great number of observations I have made, I am only
able to present this proposition with much reserve. The
sensations I am going to describe are purely subjective,
and may consequently give rise to all sorts of error and
illusion. Some of these sensations may be explained by
fatigue or prolonged immobility. In spite of these
causes for error, which are, 1 acknowledge, very
numerous and very real, it seems to me, that the
impartial analysis of the facts observed tends towards

H

114 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

showing that illusion, error, fatigue, and immobility
do not explain them all.

I will put aside visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile,
gustatory sensations ; these are, moreover, very rarely
observed. I will limit myself to examining certain
ill-defined sensations, which appear to depend upon the
general sensitiveness, and not upon the sensory organs
properly speaking. From the observations I have made,
I am inclined to discern five principal sensations : —

(^) The sensation of cool breezes, generally over

the hands.
{b) The sensation of a slight tingling in the palm
of the hand, and at the tips of the fingers,
near the mounts,
(c) The sensation of a sort of current through the

body.
{d) The sensation of a spider's web in contact with
the hands and face, and other parts of the
body — notably the back and loins.
{e) The sensation of fatigue after strong phenomena,
(rt) The first is very frequently mentioned by experi-
menters. It is an impression of coolness, or even of
cold, which they generally feel over the hands. I have
not been able to settle with certitude, if this sensation be
purely subjective, or if an element of real objectivity be
blended with it. It is at times so marked, that I have
some difficulty in believing that it is altogether
imaginary. Though it often precedes the production of
a motor phenomenon, it more frequently happens, that
the sitters feel it without any paranormal fact being
forthcoming.

This peculiar sensation is similar to what is felt in

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 115

seances with Eusapia Paladino, when approaching one's
hand to the scar on her head. What she calls the sojfio
freddo is very decidedly felt : it is as though a current of
air were escaping through the scar. The reality of this
sensation with the Neapolitan medium makes me think,
that the cool breeze mentioned in other seances may
have some objectivity. It is to be noted, that I have
observed this phenomenon with mediums, who had no
familiarity whatever with spiritistic seances.

Sometimes, the sensation of coolness or of cold extends
to the whole body. Mediums are more likely to feel
this than other experimenters. This sensation can bring
on veritable shivering, in which case it often coincides
with a phenomenon.

(Jy) A tingling sensation may seem to be solely due to
immobility, or to other ordinary causes, such as pro-
longed contact of the fingers with the table. I recognise
that this explanation is true nine times out of ten ; but
in certain cases it has appeared insufficient to me : either
it was felt too soon after the debut of the sitting to be
due to fatigue, immobility, or to prolonged contact, or
its coincidence with certain well-observed phenomena
was too frequent to be fortuitous. Therefore it appears
to me probable, that there is some connection between
this tingling sensation and the emission of the force
utilised.

What is the precise nature of this tingling sensation .''
I have carefully questioned those who felt it — and nearly
all experimenters feel it sooner or later — and compared
their impressions with mine. All the descriptions tally :
it is the sensation of a slight pricking, having its seat in
the palm of the hand and its maximum intensity on the

ii6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

mounts at the finger-tips. Some persons compare it to
the sensation one feels, when hghtly touching a mass of
pin-points or a stiff brush : others say it seems to them,
as though their hands were pierced by small holes,
through which something was escaping. The latter
sensation is rarer than the former. This tingling
sensation has no resemblance whatever with the
tingling of a benumbed limb.

The experimenters feel these impressions at the
beginning of the sitting ; they do not always indicate
a good seance, but I have noticed that if phenomena are
going to be received at all, these sensations are generally
perceived beforehand, although, as I say, they can also
be felt when phenomena are not forthcoming,

(c) The sensation of a current passing through the body
is less easy to describe. It is of a less precise nature
than the preceding one. The majority of persons I
have questioned, compare it to the sensation which is
produced on them by the passage of an electric current.
To me this assimilation has generally appeared approxi-
mative. I have sometimes felt this sensation, and can
only compare it to a very slight shiver, a kind of feeble
vibration, running through the back and arms, especially
perceptible to me in my right arm. This sensation, as I
feel it, is not continuous ; it takes the form of waves
rapidly succeeding each other. It is feeble, and, as a
rule, I can only perceive it by paying great attention to
it ; in a few rare cases I have felt it very distinctly.

I think that in a great number of cases this sensation
is purely subjective, but — as with cool breezes — it does
not always seem to be so. It generally accompanies the
production of phenomena relatively feeble and con-

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 117

tinuous, such as raps and gliding movements. I have
not always felt it when strong phenomena were forth-
coming ; but then I was not always in contact with
the medium, and often, though I did not feel any-
thing, the medium mentioned having other curious
sensations, which I shall speak of presently. Besides,
the chain must be formed in order to perceive this sensa-
tion of a current with all the accompanying features I
have just described ; but it is not necessary for the
medium to be in the circle. This sensation can also be
felt by simply leaning the hands on the table without
joining them. This case bears an analogy to the
preceding one, if we suppose that the table, serving as
a condenser for the emitted energy, suffices in itself to
establish a sort of indirect contact with the experi-
menters. And things seem to happen as though this
were really the case.

If that be so, we can at once understand the relation,
which appears to exist between the mediate or immediate
contact of the observers' hands and the sensation of a
' current.' There is something here which is very
obscure and very delicate to analyse, but which, if the
fact be real, appears to me to indicate the circulation
of some thing or other. It is probable that what
circulates is precisely the energy used for the production
of the abnormal facts I am relating. True, this is only
a hypothesis, and I again beg my readers' pardon for
having allowed myself to be drawn into the field of
conjecture. I hasten to return to facts.

If the sensation of the ' passage of the current ' be
feeble, it is not so with its abrupt interruption. When,
for some cause or other — a slight discussion between the

ii8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

operators, the medium's emotion, a sudden breaking of
the chain — the sensation of the passage of the current is
interrupted, the interruption is easily felt. It may even
cause a sensation of sudden indisposition, if the interrup-
tion coincide with the phenomenon in course of pro-
duction. This is a curious fact, and one easily
observable. The sensation of the breaking of the
current is distinctly felt ; and it is this which makes
me think, that the feeble impression of the passage of
the current is not altogether imaginary.

The sensitiveness of different experimenters varies
very much. Some are most susceptible to these in-
fluences, others are not at all so, or only very slightly.
I remember having recently assisted at a seance with
one of my friends, a man well known in the fencing
world. My friend, although he is still young, had
an attack of apoplexy some years ago. He recovered,
and has only retained a very slight hemiparesis of the
right side. Medically, he comes under the category
of hemiplegics. He appears to be extremely sensitive
to the impression I call ' the passage of the current.'
He compares it to the sensation, which the passage of
an electric current produces upon him. He assured
me that his right arm was affected by it and benumbed.
He told me that he experienced a similar effect when
passing near powerful dynamos ; he could not, for
example, stay long in the gallery of machines at the
French Exhibition in 1900, because of the generators
of electricity which were installed therein. He had a
disagreeable sensation in the right arm ; the uneasiness
extended from the arm to the neck, and he was obliged
to leave the neighbourhood of these electrical machines.

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 119

In the course of the seance — a very uninteresting one,
by the way — he declared that he felt an identical sensa-
tion, and he was even compelled to leave the circle,
I relate this observation, for the person who made it
is an intelligent man, and quite capable of correctly
analysing his own sensations. It is needless to add
that he was cool and self-possessed, and observed every-
thing free from bias, one way or another.

The medium's sensations are generally much more
accentuated than those of the sitters. Sensitives say,
they distinctly feel the passage and the interruption
of the current ; I think it is a question of degree :
their sensations differ from the sensations of other
experimenters only in degree. There is, nevertheless,
a category of sensations, which is almost exclusively
felt by the medium when a fairly strong movement is
forthcoming : this is the sensation of a sudden emission
of force. One of the most intelligent mediums I have
come across describes it, as a sensation of cramp in the
epigastric region ; it seems to him at times as though
he were on the verge of fainting. I have indicated
a similar sensation, which I myself once felt during
a levitation obtained with Eusapia Paladino. I felt
the same thing on other occasions, but not with the
same intensity. I remember, for example, an experi-
ment made under the following conditions : We were
holding a seance on a winter's evening ; the light on
this occasion, though feeble, was sufficient. We had
covered the table with a woollen cloth which fell over
our knees, and protected us slightly from the cold.
Upon the seance table we had placed a smaller one
upside down. We touched the edge of the smaller

I20 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

table. Having noticed that the small table appeared
to be trying to raise itself on one side, J endeavoured
to increase the amplitude of the movement by violently
contracting the muscles of my arms and legs. While
I made this intense effort, we saw the little table slowly
lean forward, and turn itself over without coming into
any contact whatever with ourselves. When the pheno-
menon was accomplished, I felt suddenly very tired. It
is possible, that the cause of this fatigue was simply the
violent effort I had made to contract my muscles ; still,
I point out this observation — which others of the same
order appear to confirm — because the correlation between
the effort, and the sudden sensation of fatigue is less
regular than the connection between that sensation and
the phenomenon. Whatever may be the intensity of
the effort, the fatigue is felt with less abruptness and
in a lesser degree, when the phenomenon is not realised.
I may add, that this sensation only appears to me to
accompany telekinetic and certain luminous phenomena.
It does not, as a rule, accompany raps or automatic mani-
festations ; the fatigue determined by these phenomena
makes itself felt progressively and more tardily. I will
return to this however.

{d) The experimenters, and particularly the medium,
sometimes speak of a sensation, which they compare to
that which is felt, by coming into contact with a spider's
web. This appears to be rarer than the above-mentioned
sensations, and, so far, I have not noticed that it was
manifested with certain phenomena rather than with
others.

This sensation of spider's web is felt about the hands,
the face, and at times the back and loins.

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 121

I cannot give any other indication upon this curious
sensation.

(e) I have already said a few words about the sudden
sensation of fatigue, which is felt when an important
phenomenon occurs. I have carefully examined the
state of the assistants before and after the seances,
and I have invariably noticed that most of the experi-
menters were tired after a successful seance. This fatigue
appears to be in fairly exact proportion to the results
obtained. I speak of parakinetic and telekinetic results ;
for it must be noted that the fatigue determined by these
abnormal movements is not identical — at least in the case
of the medium — with the fatigue which other phenomena
appear to occasion.

Movements without contact entail a lassitude, com-
parable to that ensuing after a long walk or prolonged
physical exercise.

Ill, The last observation leads me to the examina-
tion of my third proposition. This is, that the force
employed in the production of para or telekinetic
phenomena has, probably, a connection with the organism
of the experimenters. The analysis I have just made
allows one to surmise the very serious reasons, which lead
me to formulate this conclusion so precisely. The first
of these reasons is the correlation, existing between the
movements and muscular contractions of the sitters and
the paranormal movements. I have pointed out that
this connection appears, in reality, to reside in the
muscular contraction rather than in the free movements
of the limbs : this is a first ascertainment. There is
yet another, that provoked paranormal phenomena are.

122 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

apparently, approximatively proportional to the movement
executed by the experimenter and the effort he makes.

These two first points appear to me to be acquired, and
the correlation observed between the muscular effort and
the paranormal movement, indicates reciprocal depend-
ence between these two phenomena. We may go further,
and try to discover whether the relation indicated resides
in the fact, itself, of muscular contraction, or in the
physiological fact which provokes it — that is to say,
the nervous discharge. Observation tends to show, that
it is with the nervous influx that the relation pointed
out appears to be made manifest. In support of this
opinion I will indicate : —

(a) The attraction and repulsion which the palm of
the hand exercises to the almost total exclusion
of the back of the hand ;
(i?) The diverse sensations which I have analysed ;
(c) The influence of the mental condition and dis-
positions of the experimenters ;
(^) Finally, the characteristic fatigue which follows
successful seances, fatigue similar to that which
is felt after prolonged or violent exercise, that
is to say, exercise necessitating a considerable
expenditure of nervous force. In a book,
in which I am striving to exclude all manner
of theory, treating, moreover, of a subject
where theoretical hypotheses are premature,
I cannot enlarge any further upon these con-
siderations. I must content myself with
pointing them out to the attention of those,
who may wish to experiment in their turn.
Telekinetic movements are more difficult to simulate

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 123

than levitations of the table with contact. By operating
in daylight, as I have done, and with non-professional
mediums, there is every kind of guarantee. Besides,
it is very difficult for even a professional medium to
trick telekinetic phenomena in full light ; he must be
a terribly bad observer, who lets himself be taken in
under test conditions of light. The slightest link
between the medium and the object in movement is
easily perceptible, and it is very easy to make sure, that
no such link exists. I recommend experimenters to
force themselves to direct the phenomena towards move-
ments without contact. I do not advise them even to
begin with levitations with contact, for it is a manifesta-
tion which is easily simulated ; and I advise persons who
are not accustomed to seances, and who are not familiar
with fraudulent processes, to seek for telekinetic pheno-
mena only. They are longer in coming, and more
difficult to obtain ; but their demonstration will make
it well worth while taking pains to realise them, and
spending time to wait for them. When we work in
good light, when we can pass our hands in every direction
round the article of experimentation, when we operate
with articles not belonging to the medium, which have not
been in his possession or handled by him, the hypothesis
of fraud is inadmissible. I do not speak of the honour-
ability and good faith of the medium : these are important
elements of appreciation. But my principle is not to let
these considerations have any weight, when judging of a
paranormal fact. For, if the observation is to have any
serious value, every one ought to be able to verify the
conditions, under which that observation is made.

To sum up, the observations, I have so often made

124 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

with diverse mediums, have thoroughly convinced me
of the reahty of movements without contact. I beheve
I have verified a connection between them and the or-
ganism of the experimenters. There is a synergy between
their movements and their muscular contractions and the
forthcoming paranormal movements. I have already
spoken of this coincidence in the chapter on ' Raps.'

There is this difference, however, to be borne in mind, I
have noticed that, within a certain radius, the intensity of
the raps is independent of the proximity of the medium.
The raps heard at a distance of ten feet appeared to me
to be as loud as those which resounded near him or
under his hands. I think it is not quite the same with
movements without contact. I believe I have noticed,
that distance exercises a certain influence over the latter.
I have not seen any movements without contact at a greater
distance than that of three feet from the medium, save,
perhaps, the movements of the curtains of the cabinet.
I have observed that the action appeared to reach its
maximum at irregular distances. For example, I have
obtained glidings of the table by slowly drawing the
hand backwards : the movements occurred, when my
fingers were about ten or twelve inches away from the
table, and not when they were closer to it. Many
circumstances may intervene to modify the action of
distance, e.g. the possible accumulation of force at the
end of a given time.

I have often observed, that the intentional direction
of a movement executed by an observer influenced
the movement of the table. I have not been able to
ascertain whether the determination of the direction of
the paranormal movement was due to the direction of

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 125

the movement of the experimenter's hand, or to the
manifestation of his will. I have been prevented from
solving this problem by the fact, that when the energy
is sufficient, the movements will occur in the direction
desired by the assistants. The movements seem to be
produced by an intelligent being.

I have already pointed out this curious aspect of
things, when analysing the phenomenon of raps. Tele-
kinetic movements present themselves to observation in
the same manner. They claim, as the raps do, to be the
manifestations of personifications. I related an obser-
vation I was once able to make under some interesting
circumstances ; out of seance hours, in broad daylight,
in the course of a conversation relative to a certain per-
sonification, the table near which we were seated glided
of its own accord across the floor, when I pronounced
the name taken by the personification. A conversation
ensued with the latter, by means of the movements of
the table without contact. I also related the typto-
logical conversation without contact which I had with
the same personification.

These personages who call themselves the authors of
telekinetic phenomena present the same characteristics,
as those who claim to be responsible for the pheno-
menon of raps. I have nothing in particular to say on
this point at present.

The observation of the facts resumed in this chapter
reveals another circumstance which deserves pointing out.
This is the apparent conductibiiity of certain bodies for
the force employed. I gave some examples : table-linen,
wood, dresses, etc. I related having often seen women-
mediums' dresses bulge out and approach the table.

126 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

when the phenomenon was being produced ; the sensi-
tive's feet remained visible, and, in view of the con-
ditions under which I have been able to test this pheno-
menon, I consider as absurd the idea that an artificial
hand or foot was introduced, as imagined by Dr.
Hodgson to explain away this fact with Eusapia. I
have frequently obtained movements without the contact
of the medium's dress, but I have certainly noticed that
this contact facilitates the realisation of the movement.

Darkness favours it also ; there is no doubt about this.
Of course I am putting aside the greater facilities
obscurity offers for the execution of fraudulent pheno-
mena ; and though, in this book, I have only taken into
account phenomena observed in full light, I have often
experimented in obscurity ; and it appears to me certain,
that total darkness is one of the conditions for the
maximum development of the liberated energy.

The action of light is interesting to note. I have
already stated that the dynamic agency of psychical
phenomena appeared to me to be analogous with the
nervous influx, and that the table seemed to play the
role of condenser. In that hypothesis, light would act
like certain rays of cathodic origin, which discharge the
electricised condensers placed in their vicinity. The
study of the influence of light upon telekinetic pheno-
mena will certainly enable us to learn their cause. The
little we already know permits us to suspect that the
telenergic force ought to have some rapport with light and
electricity, at least in that which concerns the amplitude
of vibrations.

The study of this rapport can only be taken up
by an experienced physicist. It will require delicate

PARAKINESIS AND TELEKINESIS 127

methods and special instruments, and I earnestly hope it
will soon be seriously undertaken.

As for those who confine themselves, as I do, to
simply seeking whether the facts be real or not, they
should avoid working in obscurity. Light may hamper
the production of telekinetic movements, but it will
not prevent it. Experimenters should accustom them-
selves to holding their seances in the daytime, or in a
light which is sufficient to permit of reading small print.
Above all things, it is necessary to be personally con-
vinced of the reality of the facts ; and this conviction is
not so easily acquired, when the experiment is made in
obscurity.

It is difficult to imagine to what a pitch audacity of
certain tricksters will carry them. I once attended a
series of experiments, which interested me greatly from
that point of view. The group included three young
men, one of whom is a most remarkable medium.
The other two, intelligent and well-educated young
fellows, appeared to me to have some medianic faculties,
but I withhold my judgment, because they tried so hard
to cheat, that it would not be prudent to seriously
notice those facts, where fraud did not strike me as
coming into play ; for it was always possible. These
young men had nothing to gain by cheating ; in any case,
I have not yet understood what aim they wished to attain.
The levitations of the table were splendid — in obscurity
— and all the furniture in the seance-room was more or
less jostled about and displaced. This was all very fine ;
it was all very well done ; and novices were easily taken
in. The ' spirits ' caressed or struck the sitters, and I
have seen sincere but inexperienced persons convinced

128 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

of the reality of facts, for which the legerdemain of one
of the young men present was alone responsible.

One of these youths, a medical student, presents
symptoms of nervous troubles, and will become a
hysteric if he is not one already. Notwithstanding my
reproaches and exhortations, he could not stop himself
from cheating ; and I have the impression that fraud
is, in his case, almost impulsive. I did not think I
was authorised to examine him from a medical point of
view, but I observed him carefully. He has manu-
factured spirit photographs very cleverly ; they were
wonderfully well done, and only a professional eye
would detect the trick. He proceeded by double ex-
posure.

With this group, as soon as the room was lighted
up, the phenomena, which were so violent in obscurity,
ceased almost entirely. This circumstance alone was
suspicious ; for the action of light is not such as to
constitute an insurmountable obstacle to the production
of telekinetic movements. Whenever phenomena are
intense in obscurity, we ought to be able to obtain
weaker ones of the same kind in light. This is a rule
without an exception, as far as my experience goes.

Needless to add that the table, under the normal
impetus which the young men gave it, insisted upon
total darkness. Now, in truly good seances, on the
contrary, I have always seen the table ask for light, if
purely motor phenomena were desired. Naturally, it
is otherwise with luminous phenomena, of which I am
now going to speak.

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 129

CHAPTER IV

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA

The curious glimmering lights, which 1 am going to
describe in this chapter, can only be obtained in total
obscurity. They are generally feeble, and appear to be
at the limit of visibility.

I will begin by describing a rather curious phenomenon,
which is easily observable. I am not quite sure of its
objective reality ; nevertheless, I will point it out, and
give my reasons for doing so.

Certain hand-movements are necessary to bring it
into evidence ; we must proceed in the following
manner : —

1. Face the light.

2. Put a dark object with a mat surface between your-
self and the light. Do not place the object so as to
screen the light from the operators, simply place it
between the experimenters and the light. An arm-chair
covered with dark velvet will suit ; place it so that its
back is turned to the light.

3. Open the hands, put them against the dark back-
ground, palms turned towards the chest. Join the
hands at the finger-tips ; withdraw the hands very slowly,
always keeping the fingers stretched out.

4. Place behind you the person with whom the experi-

I

I30 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

ment is to be made, his head on a level with the
operator's head, that is, in the centre of the plane occu-
pied by the hands.

Under these conditions, when the fingers are drawn
apart, seven or eight out of ten persons will see a sort of
grey mist uniting the tips of the fingers. The person
with whom we are experimenting must not be told what
he is expected to see ; the experiment would be vitiated
by introducing therein a suggestive or imaginative
element.

Three-fourths of those with whom I have experi-
mented perceived a slight mist, passing from the tip of
one finger to another or corresponding finger on the
other hand. I myself perceive this mist very plainly :
to me it resembles cigarette smoke ; it has the same
greyish colour, the same appearance, but much more
tenuity. The majority of people see it in this way ; but
I have met with some, who fancied it a different colour.
Those who see the efiluvium as coloured are generally
gifted with psychic faculties. I have not been able to
come to any positive conclusions on this point ; but I
have some reasons for believing that the coloured per-
ception of what I call, for want of a better term, ' digital
effluvium,' indicates a highly psychical temperament. A
young doctor, who has remarkable medianic powers, sees
it as red. I also found two persons who saw it as
yellow. I have many reasons for thinking that one of
these two is a medium ; but he refuses to experiment,
and declares a priori that psychical phenomena are — to
use his own familiar expression — all 'humbug.' The
other person is an eminent magistrate. I have found
some people to whom the digital effluvium appears as

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 131

blue. On the whole, from the experiments I have made
I reckon that out of 300 people of both sexes, 240 to
250 perceive the effluvium ; 2 to 3 out of 100 see it as
blue. I have found two who saw it as yellow ; and one
who saw it as red.

I did not remark that the colour of the effluvium was
different from one hand to the other ; but in reality I
did not question much on the subject, as I was most
anxious to avoid anything like suggestion. I have never
therefore made inquiries upon the possible difference of
coloration in the two hands ; but I think it would have
been pointed out to me, had it been perceived.

Generally the effluvium appears to unite the tips of
the fingers of each hand. But it is not always so. Often
two or three digital effluvia converge into one of the
fingers of the opposite hand, instead of uniting the
corresponding fingers.

I noticed that the meteorological conditions and varia-
tions of temperature had a decided influence upon the
visibility of the effluvia. When the seance-room is very
cold, or when the weather is damp or rainy, the effluvia
are scarcely perceptible. They appear to reach a
maximum intensity in summer, when the temperature is
high, and especially when the air is sultry. When the
weather is threatening and stormy, the effluvium is thick
and clearly visible to me ; when the storm has burst, and
the atmosphere has cleared, its intensity diminishes.

It often varies according to the individual. Some
people give forth an effluvium, which is more visible than
that of others. I have not been able to seize any relation
between the appearance of the effluvium and the sex, age,
and temperament of the various persons with whom I

132 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

have experimented ; on the contrary, a relation seems to
exist between the state of health or fatigue and the
emission of this mist ; it is rarely visible, when the
person who emits it is tired or ill.

Such are the principal remarks, which observation of
this curious phenomenon has allowed me to make. I
have summed them up carefully, but I ought to say, that
to me the reality of this appearance does not seem to be
demonstrated. After all it may only be due to an effect
of contrast. The conditions under which it is observed
with the greatest convenience are those, where the hands
stand out clearly on a dark background. In drawing the
hands away one from the other, the image of the fingers
persists perhaps on the retina, and gives rise, maybe, to
an illusion ; but this explanation is not always sufficient.

There is an optima distance for the realisation of this
effluvium. As a rule the effluvium appears denser when
the fingers are fairly close together ; as they move away
the density diminishes ; it becomes thinner and more
attenuated. But if the hands cease to move, the
effluvium disappears. This is the case as long as the
tips of the fingers are not more than 2 to 3 centimetres
away. If the movement of withdrawal ceases when the
finger-tips are within 10 to 15 centimetres proximity, the
effluvium remains visible for a longer time. This is
what generally happens, but the facts have not always
the same regularity. There is, in psychical phenomena,
the same diversity and variability, which are observed in
other biological phenomena.

I have said that the effluvium persists longer and is
best seen when the finger-tips of each hand are within
10 centimetres proximity. Under these conditions, the

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 133

movement of separation being suspended, the slight
mist, which I described, persists several seconds. Some-
times the effluvium is clearly visible, when the fingers are
25 to 30 centimetres apart.

I am inclined to think, that this effluvium is not
altogether an imaginary phenomenon. It seems to me
to exclude, at least, the hypothesis of the persistence of
the retinal image ; for the false image does not last so
long as the effluvium, under the conditions mentioned
by me.

There is yet another explanation. This is that the
eye automatically prolongs the clear impression of the
fingers on the dark background separating them. This
would be analogous to the expansion by irradiation of
clear images upon a dark background.

Other reasons, however, make me discard this hypo-
thesis. In the first place, why do some people see the
supposed false image vividly coloured and not white ?
Secondly, if the phenomenon is of retinal origin, why —
instead of being thinner, as is the case — does not the
image reproduce the form of the finger .'' Why is it a
blue-grey colour and not black, as should be the com-
plimentary image of a finger which appears to be
white ?

Why is not the phenomenon produced with certain
objects coloured in white.'' In vain might we experi-
ment with them as with the hands ; they would never
leave effluvium between them. There is an exception,
however : if we hold cotton or wood in the hands, we
will often perceive this appearance of effluvium. It is not
obtained, as far as I have been able to judge, with metal
objects. From this, it may be inferred, though I do not

134 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

affirm it, as my experiments are not sufficiently con-
clusive— that wood and cotton conduct the effluvium as
well as flesh. This seems to me very probable with
cotton ; by holding a crumpled handkerchief in the
hand, and presenting it to the background as I have
recommended doing with the fingers, we will notice a
slight mist round the cotton, which seems to soften off
the outlines.

Finally, another more serious reason for considering
these effluvia as probably objective, is the frequent
absence of parallelism between the effluvia of corre-
sponding fingers. I have often observed distinct diver-
gencies, and it sometimes struck me as though the will
might be able to influence the direction of the effluvia to
a certain extent. It often happens that all the experi-
menters see the effluvia under the same aspect. The
phenomenon can show great variability in appearance, the
middle finger of one hand, for example, becoming con-
nected with two, three, or four fingers of the opposite
one.

As the aspect of this effluvium usually appears the
same to the observers, there is room to presume that its
existence and direction are not illusory phenomena. In
the contrary case, we would have to suppose collective
hallucination, or a most improbable transmission of
impression, which my personal observations do not
dispose me to admit.

The phenomenon, which I have called ' visibility of the
digital effluvium ' for the sake of convenience, is very
easy to observe. I make great reserves on its objectivity,
although I think its reality is more probable than its
non-existence. It is most desirable that competent

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 135

experimenters should verify these observations, which I
only present as uncertain.

I would have no doubt whatever of the phenomenon, if
the accounts of the persons with whom I experimented
had always concorded as to the direction taken by the
effluvia ; but it was not so. Though there is a good
proportion of corroboration, I have often observed
contradictions in the descriptions which were given me.

Although the digital effluvium does not yet appear to
me to be demonstrated, I think it will be interesting to
point out the analogies it presents with phenomena already
mentioned by diverse experimenters, notably by Reichen-
bach and de Rochas. These two experimenters operated
under very different conditions to mine. The one placed
his sensitive in profound obscurity and left him there
for a time ; then he made him look at living beings,
flowers, magnets, ends of cords, and metal wires, opposite
ends of which were in the sun ; his sensitives generally
saw — especially with human hands, crystals, and magnetic
poles — a kind of flame or luminous mist surrounding
them, or issuing from them. Rochas has chiefly experi-
mented with sensitives plunged in deep sleep ; every one
has read of his experiments, — the blue and red coloration
which his sensitives gave to the gleams of light which are
emitted by magnetic poles, and the right and left sides of
the body. My conditions of experimentation were very
difi^erent from those under which Reichenbach and Rochas
worked. I took the first comer and operated in broad
daylight. But my observations tend to confirm theirs,
at least in what concerns the radiation of something at
the finger-tips.

Another interesting observation remains to be made.

136 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

I have shown that very probably linen, and perhaps wood
also, were easily impregnated with that substance of
which the effluvium is constituted. This fact may be
compared with those I pointed out, when dealing with
telekinetic movements : particularly the approach of a
small table which touched the cloth of the table at which
I was breakfasting ; the approach of the chair which was
touched by a wooden newspaper-holder lying on the
table ; and lastly, the curious bulging out of mediums'
dresses, which grazed the feet of the table in some cases
of telekinesis. Without forming any premature hypo-
thesis, it is allowable to look upon the ciigital effluvium
as having some connection with the force, which is the
determining cause of movements without contact.

The effluvium is visible under other conditions, which
are worth noting. It can be seen, when passes are made
over a person or an object. The appearance is again
similar to smoke ; it is a bluish-grey mist, which seems to
form prolongations of the fingers.

The effluvium is not a luminous phenomenon. I have
described it in order to be complete, and not to omit a
fact which is interesting for more than one reason. It
can, moreover, be seen by certain subjects in the dark.
Here is an interesting experiment, which I have some-
times realised, but which presents certain difficulties.

One of the mediums, with whom I experimented,
appeared to have an exceptional acuteness of vision in
reference to the effluvium. He saw it escape from the
hands of the sitters, and spread itself over the seance-
table. Desirous of finding out what the medium would
see in total darkness, I put out all the lights, and invited
the medium to touch my hand if he saw it. The experi-

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 137

ment did not succeed every time, but the proportion of
success was superior to probabilities ; but as the medium
might have been able to guide himself by the sense of
hearing, I thought of testing him by touching the table.
The sensitive quickly recognised the finger-tips, claiming
to perceive a kind of milky phosphorescence at the spot
where my finger was. To make doubly sure I tested him
still further by tracing letters on the table with the tip of
my forefinger, taking the precaution to avoid all sound.
The medium read nearly all the letters drawn. I then
traced some words ; he read them off also. I was able
to make him read words of five letters ; he was not
able to read longer words, he recognised the last letters,
but declared that the first were blotted out. Nearly all
the words of three or four letters were read correctly,
and the errors were often significant : e.g. the word
' foi ' became ' loi.' Now, in a running hand-writ-
ing, it suffices to suppress the lower part of the ' f ' for
the letter thus amputated to take the aspect of an ' 1.'
I cannot say if the sensitive really saw what he claimed
to see, or if he were guided by the sound of my finger.
I am obliged to trust to his sincerity on this point ; but
I have reason to believe that this medium is sincere and
honourable. He is a man of education, and is not a
professional medium ; he follows a liberal profession,
and does not wish his name to be mentioned. I have
much esteem for him. On the other hand, his senses
would need to have been extraordinarily developed, to
have enabled him to recognise the movement of my
finger from the very slight sound it may have made. No
sound was perceptible to myself. I wrote on a small
varnished table of blackwood, on which my finger glided

138 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

easily and silently. Again, the errors made now and
then — by reading ' loi ' for ' foi,' etc., seem to prove that
the sense of sight and not sound was in operation.

Sometimes it happens, that it is no longer the effluvium
which is perceived, but the whole hand itself becomes
phosphorescent. Rays come and go like gleams on the
back of the hands, or on the fingers, and sometimes, but
very rarely, on the face or body of the sitters. These
phosphorescences and the digital effluvia appear to me to
belong to the same order of phenomena. Frequently,
they are but fleeting gleams seen at the finger-tips, when
the hands are resting on the table. Though I and others
who have experimented with me, have often verified this
appearance, I have some doubts upon its reality. In
obscurity, the eye tires quickly, and phosphenes soon
appear ; still, I have nearly always observed, that these
glimmering lights were perceived by other persons in the
same spot I saw them in.

I have rarely observed those glimmering lights, some
people see, on the garments and faces of sitters.

I have not yet been able to verify, in a positive
manner, the phosphorescence of the hands in ordinary
seances ; though observers in whom I have the greatest
confidence, have assured me that they had remarked it.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the eyes tire
quickly ; when the obscurity is not complete, the white
hands are vaguely perceived on the dark background, the
eyes, growing tired, accentuate the contrast between the
two shades, and the palest has a tendency to appear
slightly luminous.

Sometimes, but very seldom, I have observed sparks
which seemed to coincide with raps. This phenomena

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 139

appears to have an objective reality. I was not the only
one to notice these sparks ; others saw them also ; their
apparition at the moment the raps were heard was
constant. These circumstances permitted us to think, that
the phenomenon ought to have an objective substratum
of some kind.

However, I have observed luminous phenomena which
were decidedly objectiye. At Choisy, we obtained them
under special conditions, which Rochas has indicated,
and which are rather significative. These lights, which
were very brilliant, looked like large phosphorescent
drops gliding about on Eusapia's bodice, after having
floated for some time in the air. This phenomenon did
not appear to me to be very convincing, because during
the sitting, a strong odour of phosphorus permeated the
room. When Eusapia had left, I returned to the room,
where I found MM. de Gramont and de Watte ville,
who were as inquisitive as 1 was. We searched but
found nothing on the floor.

Our suspicions had been aroused by the phosphores-
cent odour, which was diff\ised in the room. Since then,
I have noticed it in seances, where fraud seemed to be
impossible. This odour is characteristic ; it is more
like the odour of ozone than that of phosphorus. It
is Hke the odour perceptible in the vicinity of static
electrical machines when in activity.

These flitting lights can be easily imitated. A
prudent experimenter ought never to lose sight of the
fact, that it is possible to employ diverse substances in
order to produce phosphorescent efi^ects. The use of
phosphorescent oil, for example, will give fictitious
luminous phenomena. I remember a seance at which

I40 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the medical student, of whom I have already spoken,
was present. I noticed that one of his finger-tips shone
for a moment. I afterwards learnt, that this young man
had a phial of phosphorescent oil in one of his pockets.
On another occasion, long narrow lights were, from
time to time, seen on his body. I think these were
produced by matches or straws dipped in the luminous
liquid. Phosphorescent preparations, as a rule, have
the advantage of only becoming very luminous, when
they are shaken about in the air ; for the lights, which
are given forth by the phosphorus they contain, are
only produced when there are phenomena of oxydation.

Objects coated over with sulphide of calcium, stron-
tium, or baryum, become luminous in obscurity, when
they have been previously exposed to light. This is
the principle of luminous dials, match-boxes and candle-
sticks. There are also other substances which permit
of simulating luminous phenomena.

I was once present at some seances, which were
very curious from the point of view of the luminous
phenomena which I observed. These seances were of
the series of which I have already spoken. The two
young tricksters, some of whose misdeeds I have
related, were present, and as one of them is an excellent
chemist, it is possible that the superb phenomena I
observed were not altogether authentic. I confess, I
do not see how fraud was committed ; but, given the
conditions under which I experimented, I think I ought
to abstain from expressing a favourable opinion upon
the reality of the facts observed. I will describe them
succinctly, indicating the phenomena which could have
been simulated, and those which did not appear to be so.

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 141

The medium is a young man of twenty-four years of
age, of good family, and fairly well-educated. He has
been well brought up, and his manners are good. He
is a commercial clerk. He is a tall, strong, well-built
young man, apparently in robust health. He is in-
telligent, but does not strike me as having a very strong
will. He is easily influenced by his comrades, and was
particularly so by the medical student whose irrepressible
tendency to cheating I have already spoken about. The
student had a great ascendency over the medium, and,
in spite of my advice, induced him to experiment too
frequently, almost daily. It was easy to foresee the
result : the imprudent student and medium both pre-
sented visible nervous troubles at the end of a few
weeks. The seances were held in the evening with a
round table which had a double top ; they began in the
light, but, in obedience to the behests of the table, total
obscurity was speedily obtained. I have always thought
that obscurity was asked for by one of the two tricksters,
who was then able to give himself up to his heart's delight,
and do as he pleased with his confiding group. They
had invited some of their friends — students or doctors —
and I was extremely sorry for these new-comers, in that
they should have been present at such suspicious seances.

To be quite exact, I ought to say that, though I was
convinced these young men frauded, I was not always
able to bring it home to them. I generally seated myself
beside the most turbulent of the two young men, and
the hand which I held never once left mine. But the
other hand and the other trickster had more liberty,
and some of my co-experimenters verified fraud.

Moreover, I suspected fraud, because of the appear-

142 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

ance of the phenomena, which were of an extremely
rough character. The table, raised from the floor,
was at times thrown against the observers with so much
force, that they have occasionally been seriously hurt.
This never happens with true phenomena. The thin
top of the table was broken ; a ' phenomenon ' which
was caused by exaggerated pressure or violent blows
destined to imitate loud raps. Real raps never break
a table ; its feet are sometimes demolished, when the
levitated table falls abruptly, but this is the only damage
I have ever observed at serious seances.

Notwithstanding the more than suspicious conditions
under which we operated, I am not sure that all the
phenomena were simulated. In these seances, there
seems to have been a mixture of much that was false
with a little that was true. A longer observation would
have permitted me to come to a more definite conclusion,
but the seances were discontinued.

Of the phenomena, the authenticity of which appeared
probable to me, I will mention raps. Many of them
were obtained in the light and without apparent contact ;
they had all the aspect of the authentic raps I have so
frequently observed. But owing to insufficient control,
I do not feel able to affirm their reality.

As for luminous phenomena, I cannot help wonder-
ing how some of them could have been simulated. In
order to give a precise physiognomy of the conditions
under which they were observed, I will briefly relate one
of the most curious seances of the series.

There were about a dozen persons present. Five or
six sat down to the table, and raps were obtained, now on
the table, now on the floor. Obscurity was asked for and

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 143

gradually given. The phenomena increased in intensity
as the darkness deepened. When we could no longer
see, the usual levitations, violent knocking, and dis-
placement of furniture had their own way. The seance
was discontinued for a few minutes, and resumed towards
eleven o'clock. The table requested that the medium
might be placed in the cabinet, which was in a corner
of the room, and made of white curtains. The medium
was placed as requested. The table then asked the
experimenters to withdraw from the vicinity of the
cabinet ; when giving these directions, the table appeared
to strike the floor of its own accord. It told us to seat
ourselves at a distance of 6 feet from the cabinet, and
then asked us to sing. We droned out the air, ' Frere
Jacques, dormez-vous ? ' At the end of ten or fifteen
minutes, milky-looking phosphorescent lights were seen
on the curtains of the cabinet ; then luminous hands
appeared. One very luminous hand rose rapidly outside
the curtains and seized a bell, which had been hooked
on to a nail at about 7 feet 6 inches above the floor.
This hand was visible to every one.

Then the milky-lights were again seen, larger and
more brilliant than before. One of these lights, the
outlines of which were very indistinct, floated about the
room, and withdrew to about 9 feet from the cabinet,
along the wall opposite the one near which the experi-
menters were grouped. This light appeared to be 4
feet above the ground ; it was about 3 feet high by
10 inches broad, and appeared to float in the air. It
remained visible for several seconds.

Afterwards, other lights were seen near the curtains ;
finally, one extremely brilliant light appeared above the

144 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

curtains near the ceiling. This light was about i foot
6 inches high by i foot 2 inches wide. The outlines of
this luminosity were more clearly defined than those of
the light which floated about the room.

These phenomena were clearly visible to every one.
Some of the experimenters thought they could see
shadowy forms in these lights. As for me, I could
distinguish no human appearance therein. The first
light I described gave me the impression of a luminous
pillar ; the second, whose outlines were better defined,
awakened no idea of any definite form. We ceased
experimenting shortly after this seance.

Were they genuine, these phenomena ^ I am not
sure, but I cannot help wondering how they could have
been simulated ! There are some distinctions to be
made between these appearances, of which I have only
described the principal. The luminous hand, which
unhooked the bell, was well defined : it was very distinct
and one mass of light. I quite understand that suspicion
might fall on the medium ; he might have covered his
own hand with some phosphorescent substance, and,
thanks to his height, unhooked the bell himself. Let
us try to find out what substance he could have used.
We must, I think, put aside the idea of phosphorescent
oil. This would have left traces on the medium's hands
and clothes, on the curtains of the cabinet, on the bell,
on the wall where the bell was hung. Now there was
nothing of the sort. The medium's hands and garments
bore no trace whatsoever of oil. Besides, the light which
is given forth by preparations which have phosphorus as
their basis, has neither the duration, nor the uniformity
of the lights I observed.

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 145

Is it a preparation with a basis of sulphides of the
calcium class ? Sulphides, in order to be phos-
phorescent, ought to be in a dry state. They are
usually reduced to a powder, and this powder is
pasted on to the substance we wish to render luminous.
The appearance of a hand might be given by a glove
done over with sulphide of strontium or calcium. But
I need not say how difficult it would be to put on this
glove. True, the glove could be stuffed with horse-
hair, dipped in paste and sprinkled over with sulphide in
the desired position. The phenomenon which I observed,
could then be explained in the following manner : The
medium might have moved the luminous glove about
with one hand, and unhooked the bell with the other.
This is possible, and yet it does not appear to me to
explain what I saw.

In any case, this explanation ceases to be satisfactory,
when we consider the case of the floating lights. I know
of no system which allows of imitating the immaterial,
fugitive, diaphanous appearance of these curious lights.
My chemical knowledge, it is true, is very rudimentary ;
and one of the young men I speak of is a clever
chemist ; it may be he knows of a more perfect process
than those just mentioned. Nevertheless, it seems to
me that a piece of cloth done over with some luminous
preparation or other, would not have the aspect of the
light which I saw floating about the room. I think it is
very difficult to reproduce these vague, ill-defined lights,
which are more like a luminous cloud than a phos-
phorescent material object.

The outlines of the last appearance I described were
well defined, and in its upper part reminded one of the

K

146 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

folds of material. Some of my co - experimenters
thought they recognised a masculine, bearded head
therein, covered with a turban or burnoose. If we had
been in the presence of an artificial phenomenon, the
luminous object should have presented the same aspect
to every observer. It was not so in reality ; for some
of us could distinguish no recognisable form in the
luminosity. I know that the imagination can be the
cause of much visual illusion. It makes us complete
imperfect images, and see faces and forms in plays of
light and shade which only faintly recall these forms and
faces. I have not observed the curious phenomena
which I describe, under conditions sufficiently precise to
enable me to affirm their objectivity, and I can only
repeat what I said just now, that their reality appeared
probable to me, in spite of the frauds of which I knew,
and those which I suspected ; in spite of my intellect's
prejudice, I was favourably impressed.

I will add that the luminosity, which floated about the
room, moved about up and down, and lasted for several
seconds. That part of the room where it floated about
was blocked up with the table, chairs and other furniture,
which had been taken there from the recess adjoining
the seance-room. All the experimenters were grouped
together in one part of the room. None of them left
their seats during the production of these phenomena.
Had the medium left the cabinet and manoeuvred the
light we perceived, he would have knocked against the
scattered furniture. We kept the strictest silence, when
luminous phenomena were being produced, and we
would certainly have heard the medium moving about,
had he left the cabinet. Now, we heard no noise what-

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 147

soever ; neither of the footsteps he would have been
obliged to make, nor of the furniture which he would
have knocked against, unless he be able to see remark-
ably well in the dark.

Such are the observations I have to present upon this
curious seance. One of my friends, an eminent savant,
well acquainted with this kind of phenomena, had, like
myself, the impression that those I have depicted were
real.

Moreover, in other seances this medium gave us
similar luminosities. I will even point out that one
of the suspected sitters — the medical student — the
clever chemist — having been eliminated, and the experi-
ments taking place at the house of one of my medical
friends, we observed globular lights on the curtains of
the cabinet behind which the medium was sitting. These
lights were much smaller than those I have just described
— they were as large as a walnut — but were easily
observable.

I hope to be able to resume my experiments with this
medium ; for to me he seems to be one of the most
powerful I have ever seen. It is really a pity he should
have fallen into the hands of imprudent and ignorant
young men ; they have abused his force, worn him out,
and made him ill. Judiciously handled, he might have
become extraordinary. It remains to be seen, if the bad
conditions under which he has been developed have not
had the effect of destroying the rare faculty he possessed.
I will return to these considerations later on.

The lights produced by this young man were the most
brilliant I have ever seen. Their colour has been well
compared to the light of the nebula by one of my co-

148 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

experimenters, a distinguished amateur astronomer.
This experimenter had a good spectroscope, but he has
never been able to succeed in analysing, spectro-
scopically, the lights we have seen. They were too
unsteady and fugitive.

1 now come to some visual phenomena, which have
not the same luminous feature as those I have been
speaking about, but which present another very curious
feature : they give representations of objects or of human
forms.

I have not seen any phosphorescent human forms such
as certain observers affirm to have seen. I have said that
the Bordeaux medium, in presence of whom I had seen
such fine luminous phenomena, had also given us a
luminous hand. At Choisy in 1896, I saw the same
thing with Eusapia. There was enough light in the
room to see Eusapia's hands. Under these conditions —
the hands of the medium being not only held by her
right- and left-hand neighbours, but visible all the time on
the table — we perceived at about i foot 9 inches above
Eusapia's head a slightly phosphorescent hand, which
shook about in the opening between the two curtains.
This appearance was very distinct, and was perceived by
all those whose positions allowed them to see it.

This was not the first time I had seen the form of a
hand. In 1895, at I'Agnelas, I saw a hand and bare
forearm, which showed itself in profile above M.
Sabatier, seated in front of me, and touched him on the
forehead. At the same moment, M. Sabatier mentioned
having been touched on the head. My perception was
clear and decided ; I was positive of having seen this
hand and forearm. I remember that my co-experi-

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 149

menters — two of them at least — hesitated to admit my
observation, because I had been the only one to see it.
In 1895, 1 was not so accustomed to seances as I became
later on, and I was inclined to listen with deference to
my friends' remarks, but I was so positive of the reality
of my observation, that it was inserted in the report.
Subsequent experience has multiplied observations of
this order : they recall to mind the round head seen at
Carqueiranne. The hand and forearm which I saw at
I'Agnelas were black and opaque. They were projected
on to the clear background of the room where we
experimented ; we were seated in such a way that only
I could see them.

I did not see anything quite like this in 1896; for, it
will be remembered that the hand we saw at Choisy
was slightly phosphorescent, and presented quite a different
appearance to the dark, solid-looking arm and hand which
I saw at I'Agnelas. I remember one day at Choisy, when
M. de Gramont was in the cabinet behind Eusapia, the
latter told us to blow hard. At the same moment,
M. de Gramont saw the shape of a pair of bellows.

At Bordeaux, in 1897, ^^^ again saw black, opaque
forms under excellent conditions. A few extracts from
the reports of these seances will be found in the Appendix.
I refer my readers to this for the detail of the material
conditions under which we operated. I will simply indi-
cate here that the room, in which we held our seances,
is lighted up by a very large bay-window. The persian
shutters were closed for the seances ; but the gas-light,
from the kitchen premises, was reflected through the
Persians on to the window-panes, and cast a faint light in
the seance-room. In consequence of this reflection on

I50 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the panes, the window formed a kind of clear back-
ground, upon which the silhouettes of certain black
forms could be seen by at least half of the experimenters.

We all saw these forms, or rather the form ; for it
was always the same form which was shown, the profile
of a long bearded face with a strongly arched nose.
This appearance is said to be the head of ' John,' Eusapia's
habitual personification. It is an extraordinary pheno-
menon ; and the first idea which presents itself to the
mind is that of a collective hallucination. But then it
remains to be asked, why it was manifested under the very
special conditions I have indicated. Moreover, the care
with which we observed this curious phenomenon, and —
it seems to me superfluous to add — the calm with which
we experimented, render the hypothesis of hallucination
a most unlikely one.

The hypothesis of fraud is still less admissible. The
head we perceived was of natural size, and measured about
I foot 6 inches from the forehead to the extremity of
the beard. If the phenomenon is to be attributed to
fraud, we must explain how Eusapia hid the necessary
mask on her person ; we must also explain how she could
have drawn it out unknown to us, and further, how she
manoeuvred it. Eusapia did not go into trance at our
Bordeaux seances. She sometimes saw the profile in
question, and manifested her satisfaction at being able to
look on, for the first time I think, at the phenomena
which was produced through her. The light from the
window was sufficient to enable us to see Eusapia's hands.
I have no need to say that her hands were carefully held
by her right and left controllers. If this profile had
been concealed on her person, it would have been abso-

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 151

lutely impossible for her to manoeuvre it. The profile we
observed appeared to form itself at the top of the cabinet,
at a height of about 3 feet 9 inches above Eusapia's
head ; it descended slowly and placed itself just above
and in front of her ; at the end of a few seconds it dis-
appeared only to reappear later on under the same
conditions. We always carefully assured ourselves of
the relative immobility of the medium's hands and arms ;
and the strange phenomenon I relate is one of the most
irreproachable I have ever verified, so utterly incom-
patible is the hypothesis of fraud with the conditions
under which we observed it.

Two or three times a slightly luminous phenomenon
was noticed. It was formed on the curtain, near which
my friend M. de Pontaud and I were sitting ; it was a
whitish, milky-looking spot, visible to every one, at least
to those whose positions allowed them to perceive it
conveniently. This luminosity appeared to shrink up
quickly, and disappeared on a level with our heads.

Evidently I have no explanation to offer. The appari-
tion of these human forms raises a problem, which is far
more complicated than the problem of raps and movements
without contact, and I think the study of this problem
cannot be profitably undertaken at present. Nothing
authorises me to consider these curious phenomena as
demonstrating the exactness of the spirit hypothesis ; I
think their cause lies elsewhere than in the intervention
of the spirit of a deceased person ; but I am not yet able
to formulate any rational opinion on this subject. How-
ever, I will point out the close connection, which appears
to me to exist between the production of these forms, and
the production of raps and movements without contact.

152 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

These relations tend to persuade me, that all these
phenomena belong to the same order, and depend upon
the same agent, and the same cause. Before, however,
analysing summarily the observations on which I base
this opinion, I ought to describe a series of experiments,
which have given me most curious results. These experi-
ments were made with a medium, a man of deep intelli-
gence and refined nature, of whose medianity I have
already spoken, pages 74, 79, 81-2, 101-3. I obtained
with him : (a) raps, faint at first, but very clear and well
verified, with and without contact ; (J?) movements with-
out contact of feeble amplitude, but very well observed ;
(^) faint luminous phenomena ; (d) finally, the pro-
duction of diverse forms. The first two categories of
facts have already been dealt with, I will now describe
the last two. They confirm, to a certain extent, the
experiments already related in this chapter.

The first time luminous phenomena were seen, we
were holding a seance in a small room, but were not
using a table. The medium perceived several lights and
even faces on the wall in front of him. These lights
and faces were not visible to me. Sometimes I thought
I saw lights, but extremely faint ones, and at the limit
of visibility ; I think, these lights were subjective. And
yet, I have often asked the medium where he saw the
light, to describe its shape, and the direction it took if
it moved about, and I have remarked that the indications
given by the medium concorded with my own observa-
tions ; but, curiously enough — and it is my duty as a
witness to point this out — I could often see these
lights, just as well when my eyes were closed, as when
they were open. This circumstance seems to me con-

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 153

elusive, and makes me think these lights were subjec-
tive. In reality, I do not think that the light emitted
by the gleams I saw was of such a nature, that its rays
could penetrate through closed eyelids. This interior
visibility should exist in every case ; now this is not so,
and I have only observed it with this particular medium,
though I had once or twice suspected it in a former
series of experiments.

On the other hand, I cannot consider these visions as
hallucinations, unless I also admit that this entoptic
hallucination is collective. But then, why are not these
illusions met with in other seances? Why is the mani-
festation of lights or forms accompanied by abundant
raps without contact ? These raps immediately precede
the apparition of the forms, and behave as though they
were signals destined to draw the attention of the
observers. This is a coincidence which is not fortuitous,
for it is almost constant.

The first time that a more or less definite form was
observed with this medium, no seance was being held.
The medium saw on the wall the apparition of one of
his ' personifications,' and the word curtain traced in
luminous letters. The sensitive could not interpret the
meaning of this word, for he had never been present at
any spiritistic seance. I told him to continue observing,
for I thought I understood the meaning of this message.
I immediately arranged, as well as I could, a kind of
cabinet in a corner of the room with the help of some
black curtains. We darkened the room and sat down
before a table, the medium having his back turned to
the cabinet. In a short time we heard raps on the table,
the medium's chair, the floor, and on the wall inside the

154 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

cabinet. The medium, interested, turned half round
towards the cabinet, when all at once, after the pro-
duction of some very faint, flitting lights, I perceived
the beautiful face of a woman, pale, the eyes up-raised as
though in prayer. The eyes and hair were black ; the
hair was parted in the centre and dressed in the style of
fifty or sixty years ago. The face was draped in a white
veil which also covered the head, forming a kind of
frame for the face. The physiognomy was of the
sweetest, and of rare beauty. The apparition appeared
to be slightly luminous, of a whitish, milky hue. It
showed itself to the left of the medium, but high above
him, near the ceiling. It remained visible for a very
short time. Prudently interrogated, the medium gave
me the exact description of the face I had just perceived.
The details concorded in every way. Inquiry as to who
it was elicited the information, given in raps, that it was
the face of one of the group of four fairies of whom I
spoke on page 8i.

It is not often I have had such a clear vision. I have,
indeed, very rarely obtained this curious phenomenon :
still, I have observed it distinctly three times with this
medium. The second time, the faces seemed to be only
partially materialised ; I only saw portions of faces un-
known to me : the medium recognised one of these faces.
The third time, the medium saw the apparitions plainly,
and described them, but I saw only faint lights ; suddenly,
however, I saw a face, the forehead, eyes, and nose, repro-
ducing the traits of a very dear friend I had recently
lost. The medium saw the whole face. He did not
know my friend when he was alive, but he has had
curious and strange posthumous apparitions of him under

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 155

conditions which it would be interesting to relate, but,
unfortunately, I am not authorised to do so completely.

It is not only the forms of human beings which I have
seen with this medium, but also those of animals, more
or less strange, I cannot help thinking that these are
due to imagination. But the curious fact is, that there
is concordance between the medium's visions and the
appearances perceived by the sitters.

Finally, under the same conditions, I once saw a
copper lantern, of well-defined shape, and in a particular
position. This vision was also seen by the medium in
the same way. Here, again, I cannot form any satis-
factory explanation. I am inclined to think, that I am the
victim of hallucination, though the circumstances do not
favour that hypothesis. The vision of the lantern is
analogous to that of the pair of bellows seen by M. de
Gramont with Eusapia. I refer my readers to what I
said further back concerning the concordance between
the raps and the apparitions ; this simultaneousness
existed with the apparitions of animal-like forms and
material objects, as well as with those of human faces.
This is a fact which is of a nature to set aside the
hypothesis of pure illusion. But then !

I have mentioned these strange experiences in order to
be complete and sincere. I do not conceal the fact, that
it costs me much to relate this, because I do not find
herein the conditions of precision, which my experiments
in telekinesis, for example, appeared to present. I will
add that I do not try to obtain these phenomena of more
or less complete materialisations. I suffer them : for the
facts do not proceed altogether according to the liking
of the experimenter. I cannot say that these apparitions

156 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

leave me indifferent ; on the contrary, they interest me
immensely ; but I have the impression of being in the
presence of a fact, vt^hich is too complicated to be usefully
observed. It is not the same with raps and telekinesis :
and I put forth all my efforts in order to restrict my
studies and researches to these phenomena ; for I have
the feeling that we may be able to arrive at discovering
the conditions of their production. I imagine — perhaps
wrongly— that, henceforth, we can submit them to
scientific discipline ; I think that the study of raps and
telekinetic phenomena is the necessary preliminary to
the study of other, less comprehensible, facts. There-
fore, I have devoted myself almost exclusively to their
observation ; nevertheless, I did not think I was able to
dispense with relating everything I had seen. I am
entirely ignorant of the signification of these diverse
appearances ; I may have made a mistake, though I
do not think so, but it seems to me I have not the
right to make a choice in my experiments, to withhold
the one and relate the other. It behoves those who
read me to put themselves in the same conditions under
which I was placed, and observe in their turn. I confine
myself to relating what I have seen. I will add that
certain facts have appeared to me more certain than
others, but my role of witness ends there.

The ascertainments I have made in what concerns
luminous phenomena, permit me to give some useful
indications. The first concern the methods of operation ;
the others are conclusions which I have drawn from
my own experiences.

When seeking for simple, luminous phenomena, it is
advisable to proceed as I have done for parakinetic and

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 157

telekinetic phenomena. The sitters group themselves
around a table, leaning their hands on it, or form a
chain round the table without touching it. Needless to
say, the obscurity ought to be as complete as possible.
Under these conditions, lights can be obtained ; and
it is in this way, I observed the woman's face I have
described.

The very fine lights which I saw with the young
Bordeaux medium (pages 141 and following) were ob-
tained in another manner, which seems to me better still.
It is, moreover, the method adopted by professional
mediums, perhaps because it favours the execution of
fraudulent even more than genuine phenomena. This
method consists in placing the medium in the cabinet
and forming the chain, either round the table or in a
half-circle, in which latter case the chain is not closed.

I have noticed that music and singing in common
have a favourable influence on the production of the
phenomena. This circumstance is, however, another
cause for suspicion, because the noise of music and
singing can drown that made by the medium in moving
about.

Although I cannot consider the reality of the luminous
phenomena observed by me as being so well established
as that of certain other phenomena, I will none the less
give the result of the ascertainments I think I have made
thereon. I indicate them with every reserve ; but the
analogy they present with the ascertainments I made
relative to raps and movements without contact, appeared
to me useful to point out. It is one of the reasons which
made me believe in their probability first of all ; it is also
the indication of the presumable existence of some general

158 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

law governing all these phenomena, however different in
appearance they may be.

The most important observations I have to make are,
as before, the synchronism between the muscular action
and the phenomenon ; the tendency to personification ;
the physical fatigue experienced by all the experimenters
after a successful seance.

The reasons why I conclude in the existence of this
synchronism, are based upon a great number of observa-
tions made with Eusapia and other mediums. It seemed
to me, in my experiments with Eusapia Paladino, that
this latter preferred the breath to any other movement
for the production of lights. This conclusion is uncer-
tain, because I have not had occasion to examine many
luminous phenomena with the Neapolitan medium.

My observations were more precise^with the Bordeaux
medium. Rubbing the hands together, rubbing the feet
on the floor, breathing hard, squeezing hands tightly
when the chain is formed ; all this provoked the appari-
tion of the curious luminosities I have spoken about.
True, these were also produced spontaneously ; but the
movements executed appeared to me to have an action
upon their manifestation.

Here again, the relation with the muscular contrac-
tion rather than with the movement itself seemed to me
to exist, but I could not verify this point with the same
certitude as with raps and movements without contact.

At all events, all reserves made for fraud, which I
recognise possible though improbable, chanting or sing-
ing in common has appeared to me to have a favourable
influence on the phenomena. I have had occasion of
verifying this effect of intoned words ; I am unable to

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 159

give its explanation, although we may suspect what it is
likely to be. I will simply recall to mind the role
which intoning or singing plays in religious ceremonies
and in magical operations : the words ' incantations,'
' enchantments,' are very significative, from that point of
view. The erudite will remember the magic songs of the
iith eclogue of Theocritus, and of the 8th of Virgil.
The Hindoo magicians intone their mentrams. Nothing
is more widespread than this belief in the supernatural
virtue of singing, of the cadenced and modulated word.
As the supernormal facts which I relate appear to me to
have been known from the earliest times — however ill-
interpreted they may have been — I am inclined to
believe, that the superstitions relative to the magical
power of song are not without a foundation of truth.
This appears most improbable, and no one is more
astonished than myself, to find myself admitting this
possibility. I admit it nevertheless. I am inclined to
think, that the greater part of popular beliefs have some
foundation ; the particle of truth which they contain is
often very feeble, because ignorance, fear, imagination
mask it under accessory and unreasonable beliefs, which
smother it. There would be many interesting analogies
to point out on this subject, if I had not systematically
forbidden myself all manner of theoretical commentary.
All the same, I will remark that the most worthy
spiritists recommend singing or music during seances.
I will cease, for I can only repeat here the considerations
which I have already presented concerning the relation
between the nervous energy, whatever it may be, and
luminous phenomena ; the connection appears to be very
close indeed.

i6o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

The physiognomical aspect of these phenomena is
similar to that of sonorous and motor phenomena : It
tends to personification, and it is probable, that imperfect
luminous forms are but rude outlines of a real form.
That form is not always human, although it appears to
be so as a rule. I have given examples, where the
appearance was that of an animal or of an object. I
have never been able to converse with the form itself,
when it was human ; but I have experimented with
mediums who thought they conversed with the forms.
These all claim to be the spirits of deceased persons.
What renders this unanimity particularly interesting is
that one of the mediums, with whom 1 have observed the
finest phenomena of human appearances, is by no means
a spiritist.

Is he a victim of hallucination ? It is possible ; but
then how are we to explain the fragment of truth which
exists in his hallucination .? I am well aware that im-
personal memory is an inexhaustible source of knowledge,
quite unknown to the normal personality ; but there are
cases, where the hypothesis of hypermnesia is scarcely
acceptable. Here is an example. The medium, of
whom I spoke a little while ago, has several times had
the impression that a deceased person unknown to him,
but known to me, entered his bedroom. The apparition
was preceded by a noise of approaching footsteps, the
door appeared to open, and the form entered. The
form sat down at the foot of the bed, caressed the
medium's arm, and took his hand. The sensitive was
alarmed at these visions, which he looks upon as halluci-
nations, and does his best to rid himself of. At the
end of three or four visits the form ceased to show

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA i6i

itself, to my great regret, for I had therein the occasion
of making an observation of the highest interest. Un-
fortunately, I had not sufficient influence over this re-
markable sensitive, to induce him to lend a hand to the
development of this phenomenon. The person reputed
to appear had a very characteristic walk, and it would be
sufficient for me to describe it, for those who knew the
man to recognise him at once ; the vision had the same
characteristic walk. Again, my friend wore whiskers.
But the vision wore a full short beard, a detail which the
doctor who attended him in his last illness verified ; my
friend did not shave towards the end of his life. I was
not aware of this.

The medium, living in the same town, could have
known the man ; but if, contrary to his assertions, he
had known him, how could he have seen him wearing a
beard such as he never used to wear ? Interesting detail !
since the apparition, purporting to be my friend, wore a
beard just as my friend had worn, not in his lifetime,
but at the time of his death.

Further, the apparition appeared to manifest a desire
to speak. It tried to reassure the alarmed medium ; but
the latter always got up and turned on the light, before the
phantom had time to speak. Now at that moment, an
event was brewing, of which I would have been thankful
to have been warned. The incident occurred, and the
apparition was not seen again. This is an ensemble of
facts of a nature to arouse attention. I have not been
able to submit the case to thorough analysis, and I give
it with reserve. It is the nearest approach to classical
spiritism, which I have personally met with, but to me
it does not seem to be convincing under the conditions

L

1 62 METAPSYCHTCAL PHENOMENA

in which I observed it ; for the incident I refer to could
easily have been foreseen by the medium.

Other personifications manifested themselves to this
medium, but their character of apparent identity is less
certain. One of them, with curious energy, insists that
he is the person he claims to be : namely, Chappe d'Au-
teroche, a savant of the last century. His name appears
in Larousse's Dictionary. The personification gave his
name correctly, as well as the date of his death and
where he died. He gave a Christian name which is not
in Larousse, Adhemar instead of Jean, which the
Dictionary gives. It would be interesting to know, if
this name Adhemar is mentioned in other dictionaries.
I will add that the apparition expresses itself in old
French, but with a Norman accent. The medium hears
it say ' moue ' for ' moi,' ' etoue ' for ' etait,' etc. Now
Chappe was born at Mauriac in Auvergne ; therefore I
cannot explain why his apparition should have a Norman
accent. So far, however, I have not carefully analysed
this personification.

I would like to have been able to experiment, more
than I have been able to do, with the sensitive through
whose medianity I have observed these curious facts.
Perhaps the publication of this book will interest him,
and induce him to give himself up to an attentive
examination.^

It must not be concluded from what I have just
related, that the intervention of my friend and of Chappe
d'Auteroche appears to me to be real. Nothing in my ex-
perience authorises me to entertain this opinion. I relate
these facts, because the emergence of these two personifi-

1 See Chapter vi., * Recent Phenomena, etc'

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 163

cations occurred at seances where I was present, and be-
cause they are closely associated with phenomena directly
observed by me. I think we can draw a conclusion
from these phenomena : it will be noticed that in the
manner in which these visions are produced, there are
certain features, which recall to mind the symbolisation
and dramatisation of dreams. This indication is only
temporary ; I have not enough elements of appreciation
to be able to formulate it with any degree of certitude,
but I point out this feature to experimenters, who, more
favoured than I, may have opportunities for observing
analogous phenomena with more convenience and for a
greater length of time.

I will terminate these remarks by the recital of
another fact of the same order, which I witnessed at
Madame AguUana's. It occurred during an afternoon
seance at her house. The medium, and two or three
persons whom I did not know, were seated round a small
table. One of the visitors was a small landed proprietor
near Bordeaux, This visitor came for the first time ;
he was accompanied by a rural constable, whom I knew.
All at once Madame Agullana said to the newcomer,
* I see some one, who says he is your uncle ; he wears
a cap ; his face is red ; he has a long beard ; he has
sandy-coloured hair ; he smokes a short pipe ; he seems
to have something the matter with his right arm, it is
bent across his chest.' . . . She also gave other details.
The visitor did not speak, a fact of which I took pains
to assure myself.

When the details were all given, the visitor said
that if the apparition claiming to be his uncle, was
really his uncle, would he kindly say how he was

1 64 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

addressed in his family. The table dictated typto-
logically, ' Teuton L. P.' The stranger then said that
Madame Agullana had given him the exact description
of a second cousin ^ who had been dead for some months,
and who, because of his inveterate habit of smoking,
was nicknamed ' Touton-la-Pipe.'

I have seen several sincere, trustworthy people receive
facts of the same kind through Madame Agullana.
There is notably the history of the discovery of a lost
debenture, which is curious and interesting ; 1 was able
to follow the different phases of this discovery. The
indication appeared to emanate from the deceased
husband of the owner of the debenture. Notwith-
standing the interest which these observations presented,
I cannot analyse them seriously, for they are in-
sufficiently proved. The character of the medium has
always seemed to me irreproachable, and her good faith
above all suspicion ; but the circumstances do not per-
mit of an exact judgment. Neither do I consider
myself authorised to affirm that the personality of
' Touton-la-Pipe ' was quite unknown to the medium.
The discovery of the debenture is perhaps only a
coincidence. I have, however, related these facts to
indicate the possibility of an order of research of a
particularly suggestive nature. Some of the more in-
fluential members of the English Society for Psychical
Research, Myers, Lodge, Hodgson, Hyslop, have
entered upon these studies under excellent conditions
of observation, and consider that they have been in
communication with their deceased friends. I have not

^ In France, a male cousin once removed is sometimes called 'oncle a
la mode de Bretagne.'

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 165

had the same chances, and my own experiences tend to
make me adopt a different way of thinking. It is
very possible that my colleagues are right, and I am
wrong.

Finally, the third statement which my observations
permit me to make, is that the production of forms and
luminous phenomena is accompanied with much fatigue
on the part of the observers. I have already frequently
pointed out this circumstance. On the occasion of the
production of the facts described in the present chapter,
I noticed certain peculiarities, which I will point out to
the attention of experimenters. Fatigue is not felt in
an equal degree by all the sitters. Some seem to feel
none at all ; and, as a rule, these latter are not good
auxiliaries. It looks as though some persons were not
capable of emitting the force employed. Others, on
the contrary, emit it with great facility and tire quickly,
I have not been able to study the relation which may
exist, between the temperament of these two kinds of
sitters and the production of the phenomena ; but I
have the impression, that this relation ought to exist ;
it appears to me in a function of the organism rather
than in a rapport with the mental condition or moods.
This makes one think of the belief professed by spiritists
concerning incredulity. In several spiritistic groups
failure is attributed to the presence of incredulous sitters ;
I am persuaded, that the beliefs of experimenters have
nothing at all to do with the production of the
phenomena observed, though it is certainly necessary
to experiment seriously and without bias. I touched
upon the results of my observations in that respect,
when speaking about the harmony of the circle. The

[66 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

influence of bias would be explained, if the apparent
consciousness of the personification could be considered
as composed of the elementary consciousness of the
sitters. This hypothesis does not appear to me to be
demonstrated ; but some of my experiments have made
me think of its possibility, and I consider it ought to be
submitted to examination. Things seem to happen, as
though the nervous influx of the sitters created a field
of force around the experimenters, and more especially
the medium : Each experimenter would then act as a
dynamogenic element, and would enter, for a variable
part, into the production of the liberated energy. This
energy would act beyond the apparent limits of the
body, under conditions analogous to those governing its
intracorporal action ; that is to say, it would remain,
to a certain extent, in connection with the superior or
inferior nervous centres, conscious or unconscious. In
■ this case we could understand, how the energy appears
to depend, to a certain extent, upon the will of the
sitters or the medium. We can even explain that it
should appear to manifest an independent will, if its pro-
duction were due to the activity of the nervous centres,
the action of which is independent of ordinary conscious-
ness. In that hypothesis, none of the sitters would
recognise the trace of their normal personality in the
evolution of the phenomena ; and this is what generally
happens. Sometimes, however, the medium or one of
the sitters has the feeling, more or less precise, that
a phenomenon is about to take place. Eusapia Paladino
often announces what is coming. In this case the
nervous energy, employed to realise the phenomenon,
would be in connection with the conscious nervous

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 167

centres of the medium only ; and she would appear to
the sitters to be subjected to an extraneous personal
will. Eusapia attributes it to ' John,' who seems to
have the characteristics of a secondary personality.
Such appears to me to be the genesis of the personifi-
cation, in the greater number of cases observed by me.
There are others, however, where this explication is
less satisfactory.

I do not hide from myself how difficult it is to admit
the hypothesis I have just formulated. We are ill-
prepared to consider the psychic force as identical, at
least in its essence, with that which circulates in our
nerves ; and we are no better prepared to believe, that
this force may be able to serve as a vehicle to a part
of our personal or subliminal consciousness, or to think
that it can preserve any connection with our psychic
centres, when it acts beyond the limits of the body.
Nevertheless, it looks as though it were really so, in the
greater number of cases.

These data suffice to render comprehensible the
possible mechanism of raps and movements without
contact. It is not even necessary to suppose that the
nervous force acts beyond the limits of the body, if
we admit that the experimenters create around them
a sort of magnetic field. The nervous force would
reach a maximum of potentiality in the experimenters
or in the medium ; the objects placed within the field
would have a different potentiality ; according to the
conditions, we would have phenomena of attraction or
repulsion.

In this way we could understand motor phenomena.
Raps are less easily explained, unless we consider them

1 68 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

as facts analogous to electrical discharges. The rap
would then be equivalent to the noise of a spark ; it
would be invisible, though in some cases it might be
perceived.

Lights and forms raise problems much more difficult
of solution. They may be susceptible of the following
explanation : we will suppose that particles of a very
attenuated substance, e.g. the ether or any other kind of
rarefied matter, existed capable of being acted upon by
nerve force ; they would become charged, and dispersed,
according to the lines of force, and these lines would be
determined by the action of nerve centres, and would
take form corresponding to those particular centres. They
would have a certain plasticity, if I may thus express
myself, and this plasticity would be in connection with
those centres, possessing preponderating physiological
activity.

If this connection existed with the superior ideative
centres, we would have intelligible, definite forms, such
as faces of human beings, heads of animals, and objects ;
should connection with the inferior centres be estabUshed,
undefined forms only would be obtained.

Their luminosity would depend upon the state of con-
densation of this rarefied matter of which they are
constituted. Those subject to lesser condensation would
be the most luminous ; and it might happen, that a form
of greater density would be surrounded by a luminous
atmosphere of lesser density.

One could, in this way, explain the relative indepen-
dence of the forms, and phosphorescent nature of the
pictures.

These are the hypotheses which might be made. I

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 169

indicate them with much reserve, simply to show the
theoretical route towards which my experience tends to
direct me. 1 set them forth summarily, without dis-
cussing them in detail. 1 do not conceal from myself
the fact that my ideas are far from being definite, and
that the hypotheses I timidly express would fare badly
under rigorous analysis. I have found no better, and
I have the impression that they ought to contain a
particle of truth.

I beg to be excused for having again infringed upon
the rule I imposed on myself, for having presented
purely theoretical considerations, which I am the first to
acknowledge as premature. I have not seen the curious
facts I relate without trying to penetrate into their
cause, nor have I been able to resist the desire to make
known, not what is a definite opinion, but what is for
me a hypothesis worth examining.

Besides the phenomena described in this and preceding
chapters, I have observed others which might be com-
pared with them, for they seem to me to have a certain
connection with them. I refer to tactile sensations such
as touch, contact, and stamped impressions, etc. I will
briefly describe them.

I. It is only with Eusapia Paladino, that I have felt
tactile sensations in a positive manner. With this
medium certain sitters, and especially those seated next
to her, have the feeling of being touched on the back,
on the arms, and hands, on the head and body. The
phenomenon is usually produced under the following
conditions. Eusapia's hands being or appearing to be
held by her neighbours, the latter see the curtains come
near them, and then feel themselves touched. The touch

I70 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

is sometimes given without any movement of the cur-
tains. The sensation of the touch varies : it is now
that of a finger which is thrust into the thigh, now of a
large hand resting on the back, now fingers pinching
you, or seizing you on the head, the neck, chin, etc.
Numerous examples of these contacts will be found in
the report of the I'Agnelas experiments {Annales des
Sciences Psychiques, 1896).

In our seances at Choisy 1896, the same phenomenon
was often reproduced. In that series we were careful
to have as much light as possible ; we arranged a system
of different coloured lights. One of the lights which
gave us the best results was that of a lantern, the glass
sides of which were replaced by parchment. It gave a
softened yellowish light. From the private account of
these seances I take the following extracts. Seance of
the 8 th October : —

' Eusapia's hands are still held and seen on the table.
The Colonel then feels several touches, and a large
hand rubs him through the curtains, on the top of his
head.' ... A more curious phenomenon happened
before that ; but only one of the medium's hands was
visible.

* At the medium's request the lamp is turned in
such a way as to lessen the light, which, however, is still
sufficient to enable us to distinguish faces and hands
by their whiteness. MM. de Rochas and de Gramont
change places ; Eusapia's hands are seen and held by
General Thomassin on the left and M, de Gramont on
the right. Eusapia frees her left hand for a moment,
brings a part of the curtain on to the table, and glides
her hand underneath it, in order to shelter it from the

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 171

light ; the General regains possession of the hand —
under the curtain — and does not abandon it any more.
The other hand, held by M. de Gramont, remains visible
to every one. Almost instantly. General Thomassin
feels on his thigh — and through the curtains, which
bulge out in consequence — slight contacts ; then the
sensation of a pinch ; afterwards, he distinguishes the
contact of a woman's small hand, followed by the con-
tact of a man's large hand. After that, he is struck
with force on the shoulders and head by a large hand,
outside the curtains. Every one hears the sound of
the blows, and sees the hand ; but every one sees the
hand in a different fashion. M. de Rochas hardly sees
it at all ; General Thomassin sees it as greyish green ;
M. Watteville and M. Gramont see it as grey; M.
Maxwell as greyish yellow. Eusapia determines different
movements of the fluidic hand by mimicking them with
her right hand, which is held by M. Gramont in sight
of every one.'

This observation is interesting, but at first glance it
appears very suspicious, because of the care taken by
the medium to hide her hand under the curtain. General
Thomassin held her hand well ; I do not doubt but that
it was Eusapia's hand he held ; but let us accept for a
moment the hypothesis of an artificial hand, which
Eusapia had adroitly given to the General to hold. This
is Dr. Hodgson's explanation. In that case, how would
the hand, which touched General Thomassin, have been
able to move over his back and head and strike him
without any movement of the left arm being perceived .?
It is to be noted that the light was sufficient, and that
the hand which gave the touches was seen by nearly all

172 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the observers. That hand was outside the curtains. I
remember another seance held in the afternoon, in the
course of which touches were lavished on all the experi-
menters, even on those who were furthest away fi'om the
medium.

In the three series of experiments, 1895, 1896, and
1897, made with Eusapia, I have had occasion of
repeatedly verifying the phenomenon of touch. It
appeared certain to me in a great number of cases. But
it is a suspicious phenomenon, because of the extreme
facility with which it can be simulated.

I remember a series of fraudulent experiments, in the
course of which several touches were given. The first
touches, through the curtains, made me think of the
contacts obtained with Eusapia ; but obscurity reigned
complete, and I have reason to believe that the medium's
left-hand neighbour touched me with a stick. I was
also touched on the knee, but it was by a very natural
hand, which belonged to one of the experimenters, a
man of inferior intellect. Inexperienced people are
easily deceived by these contacts ; however, the marked
difference which exists between the falsidical and the
veridical is quickly perceived, when we have become
accustomed to these phenomena. I do not advise
experimenters to put themselves under the conditions
in which these facts are observed, as they are very
unfavourable for the examination of the phenomenon.
These conditions, as far as I have been able to judge,
are : — (i) the formation of a chain around a table, the
medium being seated with his back to the curtains
of the cabinet ; (2) an extremely feeble light, or none
at all. It is only with Eusapia that I have obtained

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 173

touches with light, and even then the light was of the
weakest.

These touches, besides having the inconvenience of
carrying little conviction with them, because of the con-
ditions under which they are obtained, have also the
disadvantage of impressioning persons who are easily
moved and frightened. I have seen very courageous
people affected by these touches. Therefore we must
not try to obtain them, until we are already familiarised
with the observation of physical phenomena.

It is to be noted, that the phenomenon of attouchement
presents the characteristics pointed out in those I have
already examined. In the first place, we note the corre-
lation which exists between the movements of the medium
and the contact. I gave an example just now, when re-
lating the phenomena of which General Thomassin was the
object. The movements of the right hand which touched
him were mimicked by Eusapia's right hand, which was
visible, held by M. de Gramont, and seen by every one.

Here is another example, taken from my notes, in
which synchronous movements were executed by one of
the experimenters : —

' John ' (the secondary personality) ' then asks M.
Rochas, who holds Eusapia's left hand in his right
hand, to put his left hand on Eusapia's neck, the
fingers stretched out as though in the act of magnetis-
ing ; he then tells him to lower his fingers. M. Rochas
executes the movement several times, and each time
M. Maxwell, who holds the medium's right hand, feels
synchronous touches on his right shoulder, which is, at
the very least, eighteen inches away from the medium.'
This fact may be compared with those I indicated when

174 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

dealing with raps and motor or luminous phenomena.
We see how constant the relation is between the
medium's movements and the phenomenon. This is
a first general ascertainment. If I might venture to
use the expression, I would say that we are in the
presence of one of the first laws governing the pro-
duction of these paranormal phenomena. I have not
sufficiently observed the phenomenon of touch to be
able to say, that the relation indicated exists between
the muscular contraction and the phenomenon, rather
than between the phenomenon and the movement exe-
cuted ; but some facts, far too few, it is true, tend to
make me think it is so.

Finally, the experimenters, and especially the medium,
are very fatigued after the production of the phenomenon
of touch.

The influence of light seems to be very unfavourable.
I have not had occasion of observing touches in full
light, as I have so often done with raps and movements
without contact. Almost total obscurity was necessary
with Eusapia. This circumstance brings the phenomenon
oi attouchement into conjunction with that of materialisa-
tion. This is interesting, for if the touches are due to
the condensation of some matter, as materialised forms
appear to be, there is room to think that the two pheno-
mena are closely connected, and that it is the same
substance which, in becoming condensed, produces them
both. This is what I have observed, notably at TAgnelas,
when I saw a hand and arm touch M. Sabatier's head, at
the moment the latter mentioned having been touched
on the head.

We see how much a calm and impartial examination

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 175

of the facts reveals common conditions for their pro-
duction, and similarities between some among them.

II. Stamped impressions or imprints bring us into the
presence of a category of phenomena of the same order.
Pressure appears to be exercised upon a material sub-
stance instead of upon the sitters. If that substance be
soft enough, the impression of the form which has
exercised the pressure may be left upon it. I have
only twice observed this phenomenon, and that was
with Eusapia. It was at Choisy in 1896. The first
time, we obtained the impression of the mounts of the
fingers in lamp-black. The conditions of observation
were not good. The second time, the impression was
marked in clay. I take the following extract from our
report : —

' The dish containing the plastic clay is put in the
centre of the table. Almost immediately the dish,
which weighs nearly four lbs., is lifted up and placed in
equilibrium on the left arm of M. de Rochas, whose
left hand continues to hold Eusapia's right hand. M. de
Rochas feels three distinct, successive pressures of the
dish resting on his arm ; then a friendly pressure on the
back of his arm apprises him, that the phenomenon is
accomplished. We carry the dish away at once, and in
the daylight we see finger-prints in the clay ; the prints
look as though the fingers had been enveloped in some
material of fine texture, the woof being distinctly visible
in the clay.' I did not observe this fact with enough
precision to be able to retain it as a demonstrated fact.
I point it out, nevertheless, because it permits one to
preserve the material trace of the phenomenon. Other
observers have obtained better imprints with Eusapia.

176 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

I have seen some which represent a distorted likeness of
the medium's face, I think this phenomenon ought to
be observed with care, if one has the occasion to meet
with mediums capable of producing it. I will point out
the following fact to the attention of possible observers :
the almost constant presence of a kind of woof, as if
the object which made the impression was covered with
thin gauze. This circumstance is at first sight sus-
picious ; but here, again, as always when we are in
presence of these unfamiliar manifestations, we must
not be in too great a hurry to conclude in fraud, and
say that the medium put a wet piece of gauze over face
and hands, in order to avoid soiling the loam and bearing
tell-tale traces of cheating. But I recognise that this is
the explanation which ought to present itself before any
other ; and we must not put it to one side, unless we
have sufficient reasons for doing so. At the same time,
we must not jump to the conclusion of fraud solely
because of this gauzy appearance. There is something
interesting in the presence of this gauze. The faces I
have seen were all framed in a sort of milky-looking
veil. Personally, I have rarely seen faces free of this.
I have not observed it around material objects nor
around animals' heads. Neither do I observe it in
hypnagogic illusions. I will point out the following
observation of MM. Brincard and Bechade on the
subject : —

' M. de Rochas feels himself touched on the face as
though by a beard, and sees standing out in relief,
against the part of the room best lighted up by the
window, a long black lock of wavy hair. MM. Brincard
and Bechade have the sensation that their heads are

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 177

enveloped in transparent black gauze, which seems to
fall on to their shoulders ; it disappears before they have
time to seize it.'

I did not notice these traces of tissue, with the
undoubtedly fraudulent impressions which have been
shown me or done in my presence. I am going to
give an example, to show how an attentive examination
can reveal fraud.

At a seance, I was one day shown the impression in
some plastic substance of a small death's head ; a young
man presented it to me as an authentic impression. This
appeared abnormal to me, for a death's head is not a
common thing in serious seances, and for my part I
have never seen a repugnant or painful phenomenon.
An attentive examination revealed to me traces of the
finger-tips, which had held the object while it was being
pressed on the plastic substance.

At another seance at which I was present, one of the
experimenters prepared some plates of cement. He
placed them himself upon the top of a wardrobe. At
the end of the seance finger-prints were found in the
cement. These prints had been made while the experi-
menter was placing the plate on the wardrobe, and, of
course, normally made by him. In these two cases, the
impressions were distinct and bore no traces of woof.
Therefore, such traces are not necessarily indications of
fraud, since tricksters do not always use material to
preserve themselves from stains, when they make the
fraudulent impression.

As for photographs, I have never obtained any para-
normal ones. It is true I have given no attention to
this order of experimentation. I will say nothing about

M

178 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

it therefore, since I have no personal fact of interest
to relate thereon. The existence of paranormal photo-
graphy is affirmed by sincere and honourable men, and
their experiments deserve to be resumed. The method
of operating is simple. The medium is photographed in
daylight, when in a state of trance ; photography by
magnesium light is not to be recommended for many
reasons, chiefly because it renders fraud particularly easy
of execution. Never use any but your own plates,
never let them out of your possession for an instant,
change the plates yourself, expose and develop them
yourself.

I remember one of my friends, a superior military
officer, once showed me some extraordinary photographs,
on which we saw abnormal forms beside the medium.
I told my friend he had been imposed upon. Too
honest himself to admit he could be the victim of dis-
loyal trickery, the officer put no faith in my criticisms,
and assured me that the photographs had been taken by
himself with his own camera, and declared he had not
lost sight of the apparatus for a second. His affirma-
tions did not modify my opinion. Later on, when care-
fully discussing the conditions of the experiment, the
officer acknowledged that he had interrupted the seance
for lunch, and had left his camera at the medium's house
in the meanwhile. — The latter had taken advantage of
his absence either to change the plates and substitute
exposed ones, or to make a fraudulent exposure on my
friend's plates.

The author of this fraud was, moreover, obliged to
acknowledge the imposture. I wonder what motive this
young man could have had in cheating ! I believe he

LUMINOUS PHENOMENA 179

acted out of pure childishness — having a tendency to
hysteria.

In photography there are several ways of defrauding ;
the most usual is by double exposure. A shrewd use of
sulphite of quinine permits of certain curious operations,
it appears. I have not verified this.

i8o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

CHAPTER V

PSYCHO-SENSORY AND INTELLECTUAL
PHENOMENA

Under this somewhat vague title I am bringing certain
facts together, which differ greatly from those I have
been examining. In reality, the facts so far related by
me refer to material manifestations, and it was merely
as an accessory, that I pointed out the intelligent character
some of these manifestations presented. I will now
describe the means best adapted for obtaining not physical
but intellectual phenomena, properly so-called ; that is to
say, phenomena which are interesting solely because of
the ideas expressed, or because of the signification of the
images produced, and not at all because of the conditions
under which they are obtained.

I have studied this category of phenomena with less
interest than sonorous, motor or luminous phenomena,
where observation is relatively simple. Intellectual
phenomena can only be studied indirectly, and in order
to verify them, we are generally obliged to trust to the
statement of a third person. I think these are bad
conditions of observation. This reserve made, I will
divide these phenomena into two wide categories : —

1. Sensory automatism.

2. Motor automatism.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA i8i

I. SENSORY AUTOMATISM

I thus designate phenomena produced by the spon-
taneous activity of our senses, and which do not appear
to be due to exterior excitation. They border on
hallucination. They are observed in the different sensory
spheres. I will only examine olfactory, auditory, and
visual sensations ; tactile impressions were studied in the
last chapter. As for gustatory sensations, they are very
rare and without interest.

(a) Olfactory sensations. — These consist of a special
odour. I have never observed any in the seances at
which I have been present. In one series, however,
the medium associated the odour of Jasmine with the
manifestation of certain personifications. To me this
sensation seemed to be purely subjective ; it was
constant.

An odour of ozone is often perceived after luminous
phenomena have been obtained, a fact which ought to be
borne in mind. It may be compared with the odour
of ozone, perceived in the vicinity of powerful static
machines, which give off electricity at very high potentiality.
Here is an analogy which is, perhaps, not altogether
fortuitous ; these facts, however, are unintelligible.

{}?) Auditory sensations. — I do not speak of sonorous
phenomena. I now enter directly into the study of
intellectual phenomena, that is to say, phenomena having
a signification more or less precise and intelligible.

Auditory phenomena may be divided into two cate-
gories : provoked automatisms, and spontaneous auto-
matisms or clairaudience. The first may be considered
as hallucinations induced by diverse methods. The

1 82 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

simplest method consists in the use of certain shells,
horns, trumpets, or, in a word, any object capable of
augmenting and allowing the perception of those external
or internal sounds, which are not usually perceptible
to the hearing. This is what is observed particularly
with some sea-shells. When we apply them to the ear,
we hear a murmur or a slight rumbling sound. This
sensation is common to every one, and children are
accustomed to play at ' listening to the sound of the sea
in the sea-shells.'

Some people do not hear this sound, or rather, when
they listen, it quickly disappears and makes way for
words and phrases. I know a subject with whom this
faculty exists, but circumstances, unfortunately, have
prevented me from studying him carefully. I point
out, to the attention of observers, the interest which
this automatism presents ; the rapidity of communica-
tion is very great ; in this way there is a greater output
than with automatic writing, and it is less tiring for the
sensitive. The only precaution to observe is to take
down all he says in shorthand. We must accustom him
to repeat, instantly, everything he hears, because words
heard in this way are speedily forgotten — as in dream —
but amnesia is not the sole point of resemblance between
this automatism and dream. It has much analogy with
visual automatism, but it has an interesting advantage
over the latter. Visual images are those which offer the
highest degree of symbolism ; they are vague, wanting in
precision, and require interpretation. Auditory hallucin-
ations, on the contrary, have greater precision. Perhaps
this is due to language, the usual manner in which
auditory images are revealed. On the other hand, they

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 183

are not so rich, and contain less detail than visual
images do.

The meaning of auditory messages is seldom very
clear ; but there are cases where it is wonderfully so.
Such are the chief features of provoked auditory pheno-
mena. I have given too little attention to this phase of
manifestation, to be able to enter into a more complete
analysis of it.

Clairaudience is more frequent ; perhaps this is due to
the negligence of experimenters, who do not think of
using the methods of induction I have just described.

I have rarely observed the existence of isolated
auditory hallucinations ; I have always observed them
associated with visual hallucinations ; therefore I will
study them after these last, when examining mixed
phenomena.

(c) Visual sensations. — Observable, visual phenomena
are very numerous, and have already been the object of
exhaustive studies. I will again divide these into pro-
voked and spontaneous phenomena. Of course, I am
speaking of hallucinations experienced by sensitives out
of seance hours. In this part of my analysis, I am
replacing the word medium by the word sensitive^ which
seems to me to define more correctly the distinguishing
features, of those persons who have the faculties I am
going to describe. This word conveys the correct
idea, that the facts observed belong to the sphere of
sensibility.

One of the oldest known methods of inducing visual
hallucination is the use of a crystal ball. I have no need
to recall to mind the practices of former fortune-tellers,
nor the history of John Dee, nor the numerous recitals

1 84 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

handed down to us by ancient chroniclers, novelists, etc.
The crystal ball and the black mirror are the best
methods ; but the ordinary mirror, a glass of water, a
decanter, a shoemaker's wooden ball, the finger-nail, the
watch-glass, any polished surface, in fact, may serve to
induce hallucination ; but I only recommend the first
methods — they are certainly the best ; a glass of water,
a decanter, a syphon of seltzer-water, the thumb-nail,
polished surfaces, etc., may serve to induce hallucination,
but these last methods only succeed with very highly
sensitive subjects.

I have carefully studied crystal-gazing, and though I
have remarked individual differences in each sensitive,
I think I may say that, as far as working methods are
concerned, I have come to the following conclusions : —

The material of which the object is composed is not
a matter of indifference. Balls of rock-crystal have
given me the best results. I have seen people, incapable
of receiving visions with ordinary glass, obtain them in
a tiny ball of natural crystal. Objects in rock-crystal
have the inconvenience of being very expensive.

Ordinary glass gives good results, but care should be
taken that the ball contains no air bubbles or other
defects. They must be as homogeneous as possible.

The ball may be spherical or egg-shaped. I think
the elliptical form is, perhaps, the best ; reflections are
more easily avoided with this shape.

The size is a matter of indifference ; personally, I
prefer rather large balls. I have, nevertheless, obtained
just as good results with balls of only one centimetre in
diameter as with balls of six or seven centimetres in
diameter.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 185

The crystal may be white, blue, violet, yellow, green ;
it may be opalescent or transparent ; but, I think, the
best results are obtained with white transparent balls ;
blue or amethyst coloured crystals are also very good,
and tire the eyes less than others/

When looking into the ball, it should be sheltered
from reflection, as it should offer a uniform tint, with-
out any brilliant points. To obtain this result, it may
be enveloped in a piece of dark foulard or velvet, or
held in the hollow of the hand, or even at the finger-
tips, provided the conditions mentioned above have been
observed. The object ought to be placed within the range
of normal vision ; the gaze should not be directed on
to the surface of the crystal, but in the crystal itself. The
knack of gazing inside the crystal is speedily acquired.

Mirrors also give very good results. They can be
made like ordinary mirrors, or black like the famous
mirrors of Bhatta, which are made of a special com-
position. Sensitives say that the mirror should not
reflect anything : it should present a uniform tint, e.g.
that of the sky, blue or grey, but without the mixture of
these colours as would be the case with a cloudy sky ; in a
room the ceiling may be reflected, if it be monochrome.

Under these conditions of operation I have some-

^ As crystal-gazing seems to me one of the most curious phenomena to
study, I will take the liberty of mentioning that well-made crystal balls may
be found at Leymarie, 42 Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris ; at the Society for
Psychical Research, 20 Hanover Square, London, W. ; or Mrs. Venman,
Sugden Road, Lavender Hill, London, S.W. The price of the globes
varies from 6s. to 9s. ; those of ovoids, from 8s. to los. The best thing
to do would be to look for a ball in rock-crystal, the price of which would
vary from 4.S. to ^8. They must be cut to order, for it is extremely difficult
to find any ready made. M. Servan, jeweller at Bordeaux, furnishes good
ones.

1 86 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

times observed results so extraordinary, as to confound
the imagination. They appeared to me to tend towards
demonstrating Kant's idea of the relativity and contin-
gency of time and space. It is very difficult to admit,
that these two ordi nates of our perceptions are exactly
what they seem to be, unless we push the theory of
coincidence to the absurd. But this would be shutting
the door on all discussion, and on all intelligent exami-
nation of a fact apparently abnormal.

My observations have been made with different
persons, and a great many have been pointed out to me.
Sensitives, possessing the faculty of seeing in the crystal,
are not rare. The analysis of the facts I have observed,
or of which I hold first-hand reports, allows me to class
these 'hallucinations ' (?) under six categories of increasing
interest : —

A. Imagination— images, ordinary hallucination.

B. Forgotten souvenirs, recalled to memory in the
form of visions.

C. Passed events, of which the sensitive affirms to
have always been ignorant.

D. Present events, certainly unknown to the sensi-
tive.

E. Future events.

F. Facts of doubtful interpretation.

This grouping shows the curious gradation observed
in these visions. First of all, disorderly and illogical
activity as in dreams ; then, more orderly activity :
knowledge of forgotten facts, knowledge of past events
unknown to the sensitive, knowledge of present events
unknown to the sensitive, apparent prescience. I will
give some examples.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 187

A. Imagination — images are by far the most frequent.
This phenomenon is analogous to ordinary visual hallu-
cination, and seems to me to present the characteristic
features of dream. This is hardly the place to discuss
the state of consciousness during dream ; for the form
I am giving my recital would not bear any long psycho-
logical analyses. I will simply confine myself to resuming
the conclusions of the detailed analysis, which I made
in a work dealing with this subject.

The consciousness which works habitually in us, that
which is manifested in our everyday life, is xh^ personal
consciousness. It is around this that are grouped the
souvenirs accessible to our normal personality, to that
part of ourselves which we call ' I,' This personal con-
sciousness asserts itself in the highest acts of the psychic
life, in the comparison of images one with another, in
abstraction, judgment, and the voluntary selection of acts,
which appear to us equally possible. This selection is
the expression of our voluntary activity, personally con-
scious ; it is determined by the comparison of acts
between themselves, by the examination of their pro-
bable advantageous or disadvantageous consequences, by
the appreciation of their morality or immorality, accord-
ing to the social laws of the day, etc. Personal con-
sciousness is the foundation of all our intelligent life ;
practically, it alone appears to exist, and its disappear-
ance seems to us to annihilate our own personality.

In reality, such is not the case. With certain invalids,
complete or partial modifications of the personal con-
sciousness may be observed. Sometimes the notion of
personality disappears. There are patients who suddenly
forget everything, even to their own name. All their

i88 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

antecedent life is effaced, and they appear to return to
the state they were in at birth. They have to learn
again how to speak, to eat, and to dress themselves.
Sometimes the amnesia is not so complete. I have been
able to observe a patient, who had forgotten everything
which had any connection whatever with his own
personality. He was absolutely ignorant of all he had
ever done, did not remember where he was born, who
his parents were, or what his name was. He was thirty
years of age.

Organic memory and memories organised apart from
the personahty subsisted. He could read, write, draw,
and displayed a certain amount of musical talent.
Amnesia, with him, was limited to all facts connected with
his antecedent personality ; it presented the type of
systematised losses of memory. This is what is called
in medical phraseology amnesie de depersonnalisation.

In a lesser degree, amnesia only affects limited periods
of life. Epileptics and hysterics often present the
phenomenon of ecmnesia^ a term chosen by the eminent
professor of clinical medicine at the university of Bor-
deaux, M. Pitres, who was the first to point out this
phenomenon with hysterical subjects. The patient
forgets a part of his life, believes he is ten, fifteen, thirty
years younger than he really is, and behaves as though
he were at the age he thinks he is. The souvenirs of
his ulterior life cease to be accessible to his conscious
personality, which finds itself brought back exclusively
to the elements which constituted it, at the time the
ecmnesia carries him to. Every idea, foreign to that
diminished personality, remains unintelligible to him. In
order to make him understand, we must speak to him

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 189

only of what he knew at the epoch to which he has been
brought back.

Besides these disappearances or amoindrissements de la
personnalite of the personal consciousness, which may be
permanent or transitory, we also observe qualitative
without quantitative alterations of the personal conscious-
ness. These are changes or variations of personality,
which have been well studied in hysterical subjects, but
which also exist in other invalids, notably epileptics and
victims of certain poisons.^

To sum up, the personal consciousness is susceptible
of total or partial disappearance, or of being replaced by
another consciousness which can be absolutely foreign to
the normal personal consciousness, or preserve more or
less close relationship with it, e.g. the patient who under-
goes a change of personality may retain all the souvenirs
of the normal personality A and those of the new
personality B. But in an almost absolute manner the
normal personality A is ignorant of all which concerns
B. This is the type of periodical amnesia.

The clinical study of diseases of personality permits
observation of the above facts. I ought to say that, in
practice, they do not present the simplicity of the schema
which I have just given. Curious problems arise from
the nature itself of amnesia, its degree, its mechanism,
problems impossible to treat here.

But the facts I have summarily exposed already reveal
an important truth, which curable, transitory amnesia

^ Interested readers will find a complete analysis of these facts in Azam's
celebrated work, Hypnotisme et double conscience, Alcan ; in Pitres' book,
Lefons sur Vhysterie, Alcan; and in Janet's L" automatisme psyc/iologique,
Alcan. It is essential to know at least these three books, if we wish to
observe, profitably, the delicate phenomena I am discussing in this chapter.

I90 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

clearly demonstrates : this is, that souvenirs can exist in
a latent state in the general consciousness, and be in-
accessible to the personal consciousness. Let us suppose
that A forgets the ten previous years of his life — the
result of a fall or nervous crisis. This amnesia will
perhaps last for six months, during which period he will
believe himself to have returned to the age of fifteen,
when he is really twenty-five. All the events of his life
between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five will have
entirely disappeared from his memory for six months ;
then they will, more or less abruptly, reappear. Their
temporary disappearance clearly shows that these souvenirs
have been preserved somewhere, and that they were not
really lost. We cannot affirm that they were accessible
to the general and impersonal consciousness in every
case ; but nevertheless we can affirm it for hysteria,
according to the observations of Pitres, Janet, and
others ; and, according to Regis, for certain poisons.
The facts studied by these savants show, that souvenirs
inaccessible to the normal personality were known to the
general consciousness. For example, an amnesic patient
can recover all his souvenirs when he is put to sleep ;
this is what Regis has demonstrated even in certain cases
of amnesia from blood-poisoning. Janet, on his side,
has established that these souvenirs, forgotten by the
personal consciousness, can be evoked by certain auto-
matisms (notably automatic writing), and are therefore
at the disposition of the impersonal consciousness, that is
to say, of that general consciousness of which personal
consciousness seems to be only a part.

This fact, which the study of nervous pathology has
demonstrated, is certainly general. The troubles of

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 191

hysteria and other nervous diseases only exaggerate a
normal phenomenon. Our personality does not burden
itself with all the souvenirs, which our general conscious-
ness appears to possess : the greater part of the things
we have seen, learned, heard, etc., are forgotten ; but
this forgetfulness is probably relative, and only extends
to the personal consciousness. It is also variable, and,
according to circumstances, the souvenirs accumulated in
the general consciousness are at one time more accessible
to the personal consciousness, and less so at another
time. If the personal memory be over-excited, exalte^
we have hypermnesia. The facts which spring up in the
personal consciousness have been so completely forgotten
by it that they sometimes appear to be new ; souvenirs
present themselves to the consciousness without being
identified by it, and we commit errors on the localisation
of the mnesic image in time and space ; this is what we
call paramnesia.

The variations of the personal consciousness relative
to memory, whose role in the constitution of the person-
ality of the self is preponderant, are therefore translated
clinically by amnesias, hypermnesias, paramnesias ; but the
variations pointed out are not limited to memory, they
extend to other operations of the mind. I indicated
just now, that the personal consciousness was only a facet
of that more general consciousness existing -in us, a con-
sciousness where all antecedent experiences are piled up,
where all our sensations are registered, be our personal
consciousness aware or unaware of them. This general
consciousness is in itself impersonal, at least in relation
to our normal personality. This latter is only one of
the currents which circulate in that consciousness, its

1 92 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

preponderance, as Myers has indicated, is probably only
a consequence of its greater practical utility in daily life,
and not an indication of its absolute superiority ; but
there is one thing to point out, this is that we are accus^
tomed to connect with that personal consciousness all
the operations of our usual intelligence. Our reasonings,
volitions, judgments, whatever they may be, are grouped
around our conscious personality, or rather are founded
upon its apparent activity. The consequence is, that
every time the sentiment of personality in the conscious-
ness varies, our reasonings, volitions, and judgments will
vary in the same proportion. Thoughts which come to
us will cease to be chosen by us, and will apparently
come of their own accord ; their associations will escape
all logic, their succession will be rapid and incoherent for
our personality, which will look on at their evolution
powerless to direct it. The weakening of the sentiment
of personal participation, in the acts of the psychical life,
is then translated by the diminution of our faculty to
choose the images evoked in the consciousness, by the
diminution of our power of control over their evolution,
by the helplessness in which we are, not only to judge
them according to the rules of reason, but also to reject
the most illogical interpretations, which offer themselves
to us or impose themselves upon us. In a word, the
weakening of the will, of the judgment, is associated
with that of the personal consciousness.

We also observe a corresponding attenuation in the
faculty of abstraction. Ideas are accompanied by their
pictured or motor representations. Sometimes they are
only expressed by pictures, and are presented in a
symbolical form, or are dramatised ; e.g. the idea of the

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 193

death of a relative will not be expressed with precision,
as is sometimes the case in verbal or written hallucina-
tions, but by a picture representing the relation in a
coffin, or depicting his burial.

Such are the psychological expressions of the weaken-
ing of the personal element in the consciousness.

We must not conclude, therefrom, that the impersonal
consciousness is incapable of intelligent operation. No
such thing ; and events prove that the impersonal or
subliminal consciousness is capable of accomplishing,
with great perfection, the most complicated intellectual
acts, without the personal consciousness being aware of it.
In these cases, when the result of the operation is trans-
mitted to the personal consciousness, this latter perceives
it under the symbolical or dramatical form I pointed out.

Observation shows, that all the features I have just
described as being met with in cases where participation
of the personal consciousness with our mental or physical
activity is diminished, are to be found in hallucination
and in dreams.^

I beg to be excused for this digression ; it was in-
dispensable in order to develop, in a comprehensive
manner, the analogies which are presented between
dreams and hallucinations provoked by crystal-gazing,
and the transcendental character which these visions can
present, without being, however, supernatural. These
considerations set forth, I arrive at the recital of some
facts I have observed.

The way in which imagination-images or hallucina-

1 Readers, interested to know my ideas on this point, will find them more
extensively developed in my book, U Amnesie et les troubles de la conscience
dans Vepilepsie.

N

194 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

tions are induced, with most of the sensitives I have
examined, is nearly always the same. I will describe it,
pointing out at the same time that the formation of the
hallucinatory image is the same in nearly every case, be
the visual impression imaginary, or be it the expression
of a true fact, past, present, or future,

I have shown how to hold the crystal, and how to
look at it. The sensitive, having fixed his eyes on the
crystal for a few seconds or minutes — the time varies
according to individuals — sees an opalescent, milky tint
come over the crystal. I know a sensitive, — an intelli-
gent and well-educated lady — who compares this im-
pression, to that produced on the eye by rising mists and
fleeting clouds. For her, the milky tint in the crystal is
in movement. It breaks away like a cloud or mist, to
disclose the hallucinatory image completely formed. To
another sensitive, the cloud appears first of all immobile,
and then becomes condensed into grey forms, which
gradually become coloured and mobile. This sensitive
enters so completely into the hallucination, that, as a
rule, he thinks he is transported to the landscape he is
gazing at ; he has not only a hallucination of sight, but
a hallucination of all the senses. Most people see
the image in the crystal, but believe they see it life-size.
The dimension of the crystal has no influence on the
apparent dimension of the image ; — at least, this is what
I have nearly always remarked.

What I say of the mode of induction of the image in
the crystal can be applied to any other mode of induc-
tion— mirror, glass of water, decanter, etc.

The cause of the vision is sometimes an association of
ideas or images, which is easy to trace. Here is an

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 195

example : I was once in a spiritistic group, and among
those present were several sensitives presenting sub-
conscious or paraconscious automatisms, with the features
of ordinary somnambulism. I begged one young girl, of
about fifteen or sixteen years old, to look into a white
crystal ball of four centimetres in diameter. Almost
without transition she saw goldfish in the ball. Every
one knows the spherical bowls in which goldfish are
put ; as it happened, there was a bowl of this kind in the
room. The idea of a transparent bowl was naturally
associated with that of goldfish ; this subconscious
association provoked the visual image of the fish. Facts
of this kind are the simplest ; their psychological
mechanism is easy to penetrate ; the associations of
images are almost logical, and their dreamlike character
is scarcely marked. In the above case, the impossibility
of placing the fish in a crystal ball is not perceived by
the consciousness, which suffers the succession of images
empirically associated ; the globe of water containing the
fish resembled in its form and aspect the transparent
glass ball ; therefore, the latter evoked the image of the
former, and the fish which it contained. This associa-
tion is very intelligible.

Here is another example borrowed from experiments
I made with a remarkable sensitive — the one with whom
the hallucination becomes generalised. This person,
looking in the crystal, perceived a railway-station, and
saw portmanteaux in the luggage-room. He then
plunged right into the dream, and imagined he was
going to take away his own portmanteau ; he entered
the luggage-room, took his trunk and opened it. It
contained a particularly horrible dead body, which leaped

196 MET A PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

out of the portmanteau, and bitterly complained of
being disturbed. It threw itself upon the sensitive, who
immediately fled, pursued by the dead body. After a
desperate chase, the sensitive darted into a road which
crossed a park. This park, in reality, is situated at more
than six hundred miles from the railway-station, where
he believed he saw the portmanteaux : this distance had
disappeared in the vision. The dead body took a cor-
responding road ; the two roads met on a hill, where
the persecutor made a dead set at the sensitive ; the
latter fell, and the dead body stopped and bent down to
strike him. The visionary gave him a kick in the
stomach, and stretched him full length on the ground.
The hallucination then ceased abruptly, and the sensitive
found himself back in his room, in front of the crystal.
The vision was so intense, that he was still upset with
fright, and breathless from running.

This hallucination is of a dreamlike character, and
reminds one of certain kinds of delirium. I have often
questioned the sensitive carefully, in order to try to
reconstitute the psychological elements of his hallucina-
tions, and for this particular hallucination, as I have
related it, I will indicate the result of my inquiry : —

1. The sensitive has often seen dead bodies. He is
not afraid of them ; he feels no repugnance even when
touching them.

2. He has travelled a great deal, but has no souvenir
of any connection whatever between his portmanteau
and dead bodies, except the associations which stories of
the nature of the Gouffe affair may evoke. ^

1 A lawyer who was murdered, and whose dead body, much hacked about,
was found in a trunk in the luggage-room of a railway-station in France.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 197

3. The chase occurred at a spot known to the sensi-
tive, who had, as It happened, gone, one day, to that
very spot on a walking expedition with one of his
friends, under some conditions recalling those of the
hallucination, notably the choice of different roads ; the
two roads corresponded and met as in the vision.

4. He did not fall, and has no conscious souvenir,
which can explain his struggle with the dead body.

This curious hallucination shows us an admixture of
true images and fantastic Images, these latter, however,
composed of real elements. The duration of this halluci-
nation, so full of events, was very short. This is another
feature observed in dreams. We see here the trace of
queer associations, some explicable, others not so. The
idea of a railway-station awakens that of portmanteaux ;
that of the dead body is already abnormal, but com-
prehensible, the sensitive being sufficiently acquainted
with contemporary criminal literature to know of the
Gouffe affair. The leap of the dead body out of the
valise, the flight of the sensitive, and the pursuit of the
dead body after him, are abnormal associations. The
first Is difficult to explain ; the flight and pursuit are
more easily explained. The first of these ideas naturally
suggests the second. The idea of pursuit awakens the
idea of running ; this, in its turn, awakens the Idea of
the place where the sensitive has really run a race ; and,
notwithstanding its illogism, that association Is accepted,
though the railway-station, where the scene begins, be
more than six hundred miles from the park where the
chase takes place.

All these associations bear the characteristic stamp of
dreams.

198 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

B. Visions of past and forgotten facts present a
different appearance. The following is an example : — The
sensitive, in the course of conversation, was asked to sing
one of Delmet's songs. He could not remember two
lines of one of the verses, and was obliged to pass them
over. I had the curiosity to improvise an experiment,
and I begged the sensitive to look into a crystal. The
forgotten lines were read by him in the crystal. Facts
of this nature — and they are very numerous in technical
literature — can be explained by the action of the im-
personal or subliminal consciousness. The souvenir
forgotten by the personal consciousness exists in the
general consciousness, which has need of scenic effects
in order to transmit its message to the personal con-
sciousness ; hence we have sensorial, automatic, visual
activity, and the reading of the forgotten words, which
appear printed in the crystal. I will not dwell upon
facts of this kind ; they are so well known.

C The third category of visions comprises the
perception of past events, which the medium affirms
never to have known. It is evident that these facts
can, in the greater number of cases, come under the
preceding category, and be but forgotten souvenirs.
But I have reason to think it is not always so, and that
a certain number of cases exists, in which knowledge of
the past appears to be acquired in a supernormal manner.
This is only an impression, which I draw from the reality
of certain premonitory facts observed by me.

As an example of the facts I am describing at present,
I will cite the following : —

A sensitive one day looked into the crystal ; he
suddenly saw the words 'Salon de 1885,' and a series

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 199

of pictures, announced by their titles, passed before his
eyes. The pictures, thus seen by him, had really been
exhibited in the salon of 1885. In 1885 the sensitive
was too young, to have had any personal knowledge of
the salon of that year ; but nothing is easier than to
read descriptions of past salons, or to procure repro-
ductions of the pictures exhibited there. The sensitive,
whose good faith is above suspicion, affirms having no
conscious souvenir of a like reading. He believes he
has never seen or read anything concerning the salon of
1885, but he confines himself to affirming the non-
existence of a conscious souvenir. It is, nevertheless,
possible, as he acknowledges, that he may have glanced
over a former catalogue or criticism without remember-

Facts of this kind are never convincing, for it is
very difficult to know exactly, if the sensitive has ever
had knowledge of the fact, which emerges in the vision.
I cite the above case, as an example only, without pro-
nouncing an opinion on its signification.

D. I have had no occasion of observing induced
hallucinations representing a scene actually happening ;
at least, I have never been able to verify any in a
satisfactory manner.

E. The cases of premonition I have obtained are,
on the contrary, relatively numerous. I have, personally,
observed some of them, and have obtained first-hand ac-
counts of others. Here are my most interesting cases : —

I had given a crystal to Monsieur X., a friend of
mine, who is much interested in psychical researches.
Madame X. has the faculty of seeing in the crystal, but
I have never had the opportunity of interrogating her

200 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

upon her visions. The fact, which her husband related
to me, concerns a woman who is cashier in a large
restaurant at Bordeaux. Monsieur X., who sometimes
lunches at this restaurant, one day showed the crystal
to the cashier ; the latter looked into it and saw therein
a small dog. She did not recognise the dog, and the
vision appeared to have no interest.

Shortly afterwards, Monsieur X. was again lunching
in the same restaurant. The cashier called him up to
her, and told him she was much astonished, because she
had just received the present of a small dog, exactly like
the one she had seen in the crystal.

Another lady sometimes sees visions in a mirror ;
these visions are formed on the glass of a wardrobe,
which is placed facing a window, thus partly satisfying
the conditions indicated further back. The recital, which
was given me of these visions by her friends, was
confirmed by the lady herself.

She saw a man seated on the footpath of a certain
street, the man was wounded, in a particular manner,
on the forehead ; a piece of skin was torn away and lay
over the eye. Among other details about his costume
was a sack, which the man had rolled round his neck ;
on the sack the letters V. L. were printed. The lady,
in her vision, saw herself speak to the wounded man,
take him to the hospital and have his wound dressed.

She went out on the morning of the next day, met
the wounded man at the spot she had seen him the day
before, and her vision came true to the letter, even to
the detail of the sack around the neck, and the letters
which were printed upon it.

Another time this lady perceived, always under the

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 201

same conditions, that is in the glass of the wardrobe, one
of her friends, who is married to a government officer
abroad, where he is consul of a sister-power. This
lady, in the vision, appeared to be walking up the street
Tourny at Bordeaux, just where it opens out into the
square Gambetta. The details of the costume were
noted by the observer : — a light cloak, and a blouse made
of Scotch plaid with gold trimming about the neck.
Two or three days afterwards, the percipient happened
to be in a tram. As the tram arrived at the junction
of the street Tourny and the square Gambetta, she
perceived her friend, exactly as the vision had repre-
sented her.

Here is another and last example, still more significa-
tive than the preceding, for the vision was related to
me eight days before the event took place, and I myself
had related it to several persons before its realisation.
A sensitive perceived in a crystal the following scene : —
A large steamer, flying a flag of three horizontal bands,
black, white, and red, and bearing the name Leutschlandy
navigating in mid-ocean ; the boat was surrounded
by smoke ; a great number of sailors, passengers and
men in uniform rushed to the upper-deck, and the
sensitive saw the vessel founder.

Eight days afterwards, the newspapers announced the
accident to the Deutschland^ whose boiler had burst,
obliging the boat to stand to. This vision is very
curious, and as the details were given me before the
accident, I will analyse it with care.

In the first place, one thing strikes us : — The pre-
monition was not exactly fulfilled. The Deutschland
met with an accident, it is true ; from the nature of

202 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

that accident, it must have been surrounded with
vapour ; the crew and passengers would probably have
rushed to the upper-deck ; but happily, this magnificent
vessel did not founder. On the other hand, the sensitive
read L instead of D ; but this detail is of no importance,
the foreign word being probably badly deciphered.
Lastly, one thing worthy of noting is the complete
absence of personal interest in this vision, for the
sensitive has no connection whatever with Germany,
and was ignorant, at least consciously, of the existence
of this boat, though he might certainly have seen
illustrations of it. Evidently, we must not attach too
much importance to this premonition, but the same
sensitive has given me many other curious examples of
the same kind ; and these cases, compared with others
I myself have observed, or with those of which I have
received first-hand accounts, render the hypothesis of
coincidence very improbable, but do not exclude it in
an absolute manner. Such as they are, I think these
facts are sufficiently interesting, for systematic observation
of the visual phenomena I point out to be undertaken
by competent persons, with true sensitives, and not
with hysterical subjects^ who seldom, if ever, give good
observations.

The facts of premonition which I have observed or
controlled, and of which I have just given a few
examples, cannot, I think, be reasonably regarded as
coincidences. I have already said that this hypothesis,
without being inadmissible, is insufficient. Think of
the immense proportion of probabilities, which accumu-
late in favour of the reality of a fact, as soon as the
details themselves accumulate. The visions relative

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 203

to the foreign friend, and to the wounded man, are
instructive from this point of view, given the great
number of circumstances seen beforehand : — exact locality,
exact details of the wound, the costume, etc. It is a
pity these facts were not observed under good conditions.
That of the Deutschland is much less demonstrative,
because of the inaccuracy in the foreseen issue.

If we compare these facts with those which have been
already registered by the Society for Psychical Research,
we will come to a conclusion, which confirms the simple
impression that my own observations have given birth
to in my mind. What is the cause of these pre-
monitions .'' What signification have they with respect
to the reality of time '^. Why do these visions come to
people, who often have no interest whatever in knowing
of them } These are all so many questions I am putting,
without being able to indicate their solution. We must
observe, with the greatest care, the facts which are
presented, accumulate them in as great a number as
possible, and, before considering their causes, be, first
of all, doubly sure of their reality.

I have indicated, further back, the analogy of the
greater part of these visions with dreams. 1 will point
out finally another resemblance which is, perhaps, not
the least interesting. This is, that these visions are
often quickly forgotten. We must make the sensitives
we observe write down their visions immediately ; for,
in the greater number of cases, a rapid amnesia mixes up
the details and causes them to disappear. These visions,
therefore, react upon the memory in the manner of dreams.

F. Certain visions are of a doubtful character. Here
are some examples : — Several times a sensitive sees, in the

204 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

crystal, a long procession of personages clothed in white
enter a sort of crypt, which looks like the entrance
to a tunnel. The vision presents no incoherence, but
appears to have no signification, either as a souvenir
evoked unconsciously or as a subconscious symbolical
image admitting of interpretation.

And now, I am going to relate a vision, which, doubt-
less, will particularly interest occultists. I was operat-
ing with a sensitive, who was ignorant, I think, of their
theories and those of spiritists ; who had no notion what-
ever about larvas, and the forms given to such in the
literature of occult sciences. Now the sensitive, of
whom I speak, twice saw the vision of a tree standing out
detached from the others in a forest. The earth appeared
white, the tree itself was white, and appeared to be covered
with white pears hanging from its branches. In his vision
the sensitive drew near, and perceived that the pears were
in reality white beasts of hideous appearance ; they were
like heads without bodies, terminating in long tails.
These beings were suspended to the branches by their
tails. This vision seems to me to be purely imaginary,
but I have related it because the curious forms described
concord, I believe, with the aspect given to larvae by
occult writers. I cannot positively affirm the sensitive's
absolute ignorance of mystic literature, but I have serious
reasons to admit it. Must we simply see herein a morpho-
logical association between the different forms of larvae, of
tears embroidered on funereal garb and pears ! This
explanation would be possible, if the sensitive knew the
signification of the word larvae, and the form lent to
these fabulous beinofs.

I must now cut short the recital of these observations.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 205

and confine myself to resuming the conclusion to which
I have come : — This is, that sensorial automatisms and
especially visual hallucinations have the same characteristic
features we note in dreams, the same weakening of the
power of control of the will and judgment over the selec-
tion of images, over their coherence, their likelihood,
and the same rapid amnesia. These are characteristic
features, which we observe in every case, where the senti-
ment of personality is impaired. This is just as noticeable
in purely imaginary hallucinations, as in hallucinations
which appear to have a real foundation. This fact seems
to me of great importance, for it permits us to think, that
one of the conditions of the transcendental perception of
facts past, present or even future is the disappearance of
the voluntary and personal activity of the consciousness.
Less fit to act actively, it would be more inclined to be
passively impressed by influences, which are at present
indeterminable ; the transmission to the normal conscious-
ness of the impressions perceived by the impersonal
consciousness appears to take place in the same way as in
a dream, that is to say by dramatisation, — by a scene which
expresses the idea in a concrete and symbolical manner.

There is therefore a rapprochement between these sen-
sory automatisms and dreams and telepathy. Several
premonitory dreams have been related to me by people of
absolute good faith ; I will give two, which were told me
by magistrates. The first concerns a man holding a high
rank in the magistracy. He had sold, at an advantageous
price, the wood on a property he possessed in the neigh-
bouring country, but the bargain was not definitely settled,
and was to be concluded in an interview arranged for
between the owner and the purchaser. On the eve of the

2o6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

day when the magistrate should have gone to the country,
his wife dreamt that she was present at the woodman's
visit. In her dream, the latter offered a price, which was
inferior to the price originally agreed upon, and covered
his treachery with all sorts of periphrases, trying to prove
that the bargain remained excellent for the owner.
Finally he turned towards Madame X., who was present
at the interview, and said to her, ' This is fair speaking,
is it not, Madame ? ' Madame X. related the dream to
her husband, telling him also that she thought the bargain
would not come off. Her dream was fulfilled literally,
and the phrase heard in her dream was uttered by the
woodman. I received this account from the magistrate
himself, an eminent man and one of the most brilliant
intellects I have known.

The second dream is, perhaps, still more curious ; it
was told me by one of my colleagues, a calm, positive
man with not the slightest tendency whatever to mys-
ticism, employing his leisure hours in hunting rather
than with metaphysics. He is, moreover, an experi-
enced magistrate, and occupies a distinguished posi-
tion at a court in the centre of France. At the time
he had the dream I am going to relate, he was juge
d' instruction in a small town, where there are some impor-
tant factories. He was closely connected with a large
manufacturer, and was accustomed to go and see him
nearly every day. He knew the staff of the factory, and
notably an overseer, a native of Flanders ; this man, after
many years of faithful service, wished to return to his
birthplace and left his employer, remaining, however, on
the best of terms with him.

Some months afterwards my colleague dreamt, he had

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 207

taken his usual promenade and paid his visit to his friend.
In his dream, he saw the overseer and manifested his
surprise at seeing him ; the overseer replied, ' Yes, sir, it
is I, I could not find any work in my own country,
and i' faith, I came back here.' My colleague attached
no importance to this dream ; on the morrow he went,
as usual, to see his friend, and in the factory found the
overseer whom he had seen in his dream. He exchanged
the same conversation he had held with him in his dream.

Facts of this kind are very numerous. Perhaps they
are only simple coincidences, but, as with sensory auto-
matisms already described, I cannot help thinking, that
coincidence does not explain everything. The concording
details are often so numerous, that the probabilities in
an extremely large proportion are against pure hazard.
Richet, however, has carefully studied the Calculus of
Probabilities, and I will not go into the question. I
simply give my impression, persuaded as I am that those
who study these facts impartially will come to the conclu-
sion, that hazard does not explain everything.

The two dreams which I have taken as examples offer
us cases of telepathy, that is to say, the impression
perceived in a way which the ordinary senses do not
explain. Telepathy has been carefully studied by Myers,
Gurney, Podmore, Sidgwick, Ermacora, and discussion
on this question can only be pursued, if the work of
these savants has been studied. Telepathy appears to me
to be established in a definitive manner, but I have no
personal example to cite. However, a very great number
of cases have been related to me, by persons who have
received telepathic impressions. I know of many people
who have had veridical hallucinations, either during sleep

2o8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

or when awake. The following are some examples
borrowed from my circle of friends or relations : —

One of my great-uncles had married a coloured woman
at Martinique. This lady, though highly respectable, was
the victim of tenacious prejudice on the part of the white
Creole families on the island, and my uncle's marriage
aroused the displeasure of his family. He left Saint-
Pierre, and came to Bordeaux. His wife's mind suddenly
gave way ; she had dangerous attacks of fury, but the
union between my great-uncle and his wife was so close,
and their reciprocal affection so profound, that my relation
would not consent to a separation and have her cared for
in an asylum. He fell a victim to his devotion ; his wife
killed him in an attack of high fever. One of my great-
aunts, the dead man's sister, living at Paris, was awakened
in the middle of the night by her brother's voice calling
her. This hallucination coincided with the death of my
great-uncle.

An intimate friend of my mother's, a Creole living at
Bordeaux, had been present at the embarkation of a
family belonging to Martinique, that was returning to
Saint-Pierre. Some time afterwards she had a dream in
which she saw a steamer founder ; the stern of the vessel
rose above the waves, and she was able to read the name
of the boat ; it was the one on which her friends had em-
barked. The vessel was lost and not a life saved.

Here is another interesting fact, in which (i) a
sentiment of anxiety, the cause unknown to the conscious
personality, corresponds with the serious illness of a near
relation ; (2) the telepathic, premonitory hallucination of
a telephonic call preceded the real call by two hours.
This fact was communicated to me by one of my friends.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 209

' Here is the exact account of the fact I mentioned to
you.

' On the evening of the 17th October 1901 I went to
bed feeling greatly disturbed ; I could not define the
cause of my mental anguish, for I was in perfect health.
This trouble persisted, and my sleep was haunted by
painful nightmare.

' At half-past four I suddenly awoke, having distinctly
heard the sound of my telephone bell. I ran to the
apparatus, and answered the ring. The night operator
replied that he had not rung me up, and that nothing
unusual was happening. I had therefore been labouring
under a hallucination, provoked by a particular haunting
impression.

' At seven o'clock in the morning, the telephone again
sounded, and I was put into communication with my
brother-in-law residing at Biarritz. He told me that
my sister, Madame V,, had, in the night, been struck
with congestion of the brain, and was in a critical
state.'

All these facts may be considered as coincidences ;
their attentive study, their thorough analysis, and their
careful, thoughtful comparison can alone make us
suspect, that hazard has nothing whatever to do with
their production.

I may compare these cases of telepathy to facts of
exteriorisation of sensibility, and of vision at a distance.
I have given very little study to these facts, for
they do not enter into the habitual plan of my re-
searches ; I have sometimes observed them, but under
conditions which do not satisfy me. My observations,
however incomplete they may be, tend, nevertheless,

o

2IO METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

to make me think, that the phenomenon described by
de Rochas, under the name oi exteriorisation de la sensibilite^
is real. I have met with two sensitives, who presented
the phenomenon in a fairly clear manner in a waking
state. I was led to make the following experiment with
one of these sensitives. As soon as she entered the
seance-room and had taken off her cloak, I took hold
of the garment and pinched the lining. The sensitive
mentioned feeling a certain sensation, rather feeble how-
ever, in the part of her body which had been covered
by the garment in the place I had pinched it. The
first time I tried this experiment, the sensitive had not
been warned, and was surprised at the sensation she
felt. Needless to say, I took precautions to make sure,
this lady did not see what I was doing. I have ob-
served, that this particular sensibility disappears very
rapidly ; at the end of forty or fifty seconds it has
ceased to exist.

I have asked a lady friend of this sensitive's to try
the same experiment with her more private garments,
especially with the corsets. Sensibility should then be
greater.

I think that the observation of this fact, which I
point out with much reserve, not having submitted it
to serious study, is easier than is supposed, by employ-
ing the method I indicate, that is to say, by pinching
or pricking garments which the sensitive has just
thrown off.

I have had occasion also of verifying this phenomenon,
under the technical conditions indicated by Colonel de
Rochas. Very few sensitives present it in a marked
manner, and it has seemed to me necessary to push

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 211

the artificial sleep rather deeply. This expression may
seem somewhat antiquated, to those who have frequented
our learned neurological cliniques ; but I cannot help
thinking, that a real difference exists between the different
phases of somnambulism, if they be observed. I speak, of
a difference of degree. It seems to me that, once the
subject is put to sleep, the repeated action of the passes
determines a particular state, pointed out by ancient
magnetisers and exposed in detail by de Rochas, in
which the subject appears to lose the notion of his
personality, and be in close dependence upon his
' magnetiser.' I have experimented very little in this
order of research, and I can permit myself only to give
indications ; I am unable to affirm a personal conviction.
The few experiments I have made, however, tend
to make me think that de Rochas is quite right in
speaking of superficial and profound states. I am not
convinced that the passage from the one to the other
takes place with the regularity that my eminent friend
has observed, but the fact pointed out by him is, I
think, true in a general way. I am going to support
my opinion with an example.

I have already spoken of Madame Agullana. Those
who have only been present at her ordinary seances can
have no idea of the curious faculties, she sometimes
presents. An experienced manipulator can obtain with
her-^on condition of operating quietly and in the pre-
sence of very few people — phenomena which are very
interesting, in the sphere of what is called animal magnet-
ism. I was at her home one evening with Monsieur B.
"We were expecting a tutor, a medium of whom I had
heard marvellous things. This tutor did not turn up ; but,

2 12 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

while waiting for him, I put Madame Agullana to sleep ;
I wished to show Monsieur B., who had no experience of
this kind, the effects of profound sleep. I prolonged
my passes, made longitudinally from the forehead to the
epigastrium, for more than twenty-five minutes. From
time to time, every seven or eight minutes, I asked
Madame Agullana what was her name. She told me her
name. At last the moment came when she could not
remember her name, and appeared to have lost conscious-
ness of her personality. I made a few more passes, and
remarked to Monsieur B. that, when Madame A. appeared
to have cutaneous anaesthesia, she seemed to perceive
pricks at a distance of two or three centimetres from the
skin. The passes were continued for about another
quarter of an hour; at that moment Madame A. appeared
to present two peculiarities : —

1. Her sensitiveness appeared to be localised behind
her, at about three feet from, and twenty-one inches
above the level of her head. She winced, when — care
being taken that she did not see — the air was pinched
at the spot indicated.

2. Only the persons en rapport with her — in the sense
given to this word by de Rochas — could make an im-
pression upon her ; contacts and pinching by other people
were not perceived by her, I did not observe these two
peculiarities under conditions sufficiently precise to warrant
me affirming, that my observation was good ; but I indi-
cate them, for to me they appeared probable.

Then, phenomena were forthcoming. Madame Agul-
lana said she was in the street, outside of the house. I
asked her to go and see what one of my friends. Monsieur
Bechade, was doing— -a man whom she knew well. It was

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 213

twenty minutes past ten o'clock. To our great surprise,
she told us that she saw ' Monsieur Bechade half-undressed,
walking bare-footed on stones.' This did not seem to us
to have any sense. I saw my friend the next day, and,
although he is well acquainted with spiritistic phenomena,
he seemed to be astonished at my recital, and said to me,
word for word : ' I was not feeling very well yesterday
evening ; one of my friends who lives with me advised me
to try Kneipp's method, and urged me so strongly, that,
in order to satisfy him, I tried last night for the first time
to walk barefooted on cold stone. I was, in reality, half-
undressed when I made the first attempt ; it was then
twenty minutes past ten o'clock ; I walked about for
some time on the first steps of the staircase, which is
built of stone.'

Perhaps this also is a coincidence, but this fact, which
was witnessed by several people, presents very strange
coincidences all the same. The hour, the costume, the
unusual operation, are circumstances of too special a
nature for mere hazard to suffice to explain them, it seems
to me. I cite this case because it came under my personal
observation, and because it shows a variety of telepathic
phenomena ; it is what the ancient magnetisers called
lucidity, clairvoyance or, more exactly, vision at a
distance. It appears to me to be a development of the
facts pointed out by de Rochas ; it looks as though the
entire sensibility was exteriorised to variable distances.
This is telaesthesia, a phenomenon in the sensitivo-
sensorial domain, analogous to motor telekinesis.

Experimenters, who might be desirous of verifying
these facts, should not forget, (i) it is necessary to have
a sensitive who has often been magnetised — I do not say

2 14 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

hypnotised ; (2) sleep must be pushed very deeply — passes
must be continued for more than half an hour after
somnambulism sets in. The time is reduced with
sensitives who are well developed.

It would be easy to multiply examples of this kind,
particularly those of well-observed telepathic cases. The
publications of the London Society for Psychical Research,
Flammarion's book, VInconnu et les problemes psychiques^
the Annales des Sciences psychiques, contain a great number
of them. This symbolism will always be met with, —
this dramatic element, which I have indicated as the
ordinary way by which the general consciousness trans-
mits its information to the personal consciousness. The
assimilation which I make between sensory automatisms
and dreams, crystal vision and telepathy, appears to me
to find support in these facts. These phenomena are of
the same order and, in all probability, have their seat in
the same strata of the consciousness.

I will not try to fathom the cause ; once again 1 must
repeat what I have so often said already, — the question is
still so little known, that we are not able to enter profit-
ably upon the study of the apparent cause of the psychical
facts examined in this present chapter. We must multiply
observations and verify the undeniable existence of the
facts, before attempting to interpret them.

I give here, both as an example of careful observation
and as an illustration of the chief features of the pheno-
mena of which I have just been speaking, the following
account which Professor Charles Richet has kindly
sent me.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 215

A COMPLEX CASE OF PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA.

BY PROFESSOR CHARLES RICHET.

April, 1903.

' Dear Dr. Maxwell, — The following is a brief account
of the strange, bewildering facts, of which I promised
you the narration.

'I. In the beginning of October 1900 I was at
Carqueiranne, when I received a letter from Madame X.
Madame X. had left Paris on the ist of October for
Fontainebleau, with the intention of spending a month
near the forest. In her letter to me she related, that on
the arrival of the train at the station of Melun, she had a
notion that some one entered her carriage and sat down
opposite to her. This " vision " spoke to her, saying he
had known me very well, that he used to call me " Carlos,"
and that I called him " Tony " ; he told her, that he
knew Fontainebleau very well and would accompany her
in her walks in the forest.

* After that letter I received others from Madame X.,
giving me numerous details concerning this vision which
called itself " Tony," a vision which was repeated several
times during Madame X.'s visit at Fontainebleau. These
details were particularly remarkable and abundant between
the 20th and the 28 th October. I will briefly enumerate
them, after which I will enter upon a discussion and
appreciation of the chief details.

' " Tony " showed me a tree to-day on which were
engraved the letters A. B. and a date 1880, or 1883 —
the last figure was indistinct ; underneath the letters
A. B. was the name " Lucie." ..." Tony " seems to
have had to do with machinery of some kind. He had
hoped to construct a machine, which would have been of

2i6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

great use to mankind. He seems to say it was he who dis-
covered the telephone, — or, at least, that he was on the
right track, ... I hear him say, " I know Madeleine
well." He says he adored his father. He speaks about
Leon, Sarah, and Marguerite, but especially about Lucie.
His wife's name was Lucie. , . . There were Jews in his
family ; he also talks about Louise, . , . He worked
with telegraphy and electric wires. . . . He knew you
remarkably well ; he called you " Carlos," and you called
him " Tony " ; of this I am sure, for he speaks of it so
often. He says he collaborated with you in some work.
He says that when he was dead, you went into his
death-chamber and kissed him on the forehead, , . .
He had not been previously ill, — a feeling of suffocation
in the chest and that was all. [^uelque chose fa etouffe a la
poitrine^ et ce fut tout.'] He was only 30 or 32 years
old when he died. ... I do not think he was married,
that is to say, in the legal sense of the word ; but he
was very much attached to Lucie, by whom he had a
daughter, who was about three years old when he died.
This child seems to be still alive, but very few people
know about it. He adored Lucie, who seems to have
been very charming, for Antoine shows me her portrait,
— a medallion or locket which he used to wear — in which
she seems to have beautiful dark eyes and hair. He
lived for about four or five years with Lucie ; but Lucie
had previously been married to a Jew \_un grosjuif~\, whom
she did not care for. I think Antoine lived a long time
with Lucie at Fontainebleau ; they were sadly happy
there [tristement heureux]. The house they stayed at
is no longer inhabited. It was a red and white cottage,
quite close to the forest, which was just behind it. . . . The

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 217

house stood alone ; a tramway passes by there to-day.
..." Tony " also speaks about his father. His father
loved his own fireside ; he once lost a lot of money when
Antoine was grown up ; but Antoine did not take much
notice of this, for he did not trouble himself about money
matters. The house in which " Tony " and his father
lived together, is one which they seem to have always
inhabited. " Tony " seems to have always known this
house. The furniture is old ; the rooms look as though
they had been occupied for a very long time. He speaks
of the Faubourg Montmartre ; does that mean he used
to live there ? . . . Antoine also had to do with engines
of war. I think he was wounded during the war [the
Commune], because I hear the noise of cannon — and
your father dressed his wound. ...

' Antoine was a free-mason. He admired Claude
Bernard. His political opinions were of a socialistic
tendency. He did not care for the society of women.
He was temperate, and did not drink wine ; he was no
epicure. . . . He has been to Geneva. . . . He has
hunted with you. . . . He used to like reading Tiius Livy.
. . . He cared naught for the world's opinion, taking his
conscience for his sole guide. . . . He often saw Philippe.
He also mentions Yvonne, Josephine, Georges, James,
Clotilde, and Andre. . . . He speaks about a pseudonym ;
he has written some things under a nom-de-plume. . . .
Antoine had beautiful dark eyes, large and most expres-
sive, full of resolution, but, at the same time, soft,
dreamy-looking eyes. He had a frank, hearty laugh,
and this merry sound was often heard [// riait sou-vent de
ce bon rire\. He had a habit of putting his hands behind
his head, and stretching himself out on a sofa, laughing

21 8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

merrily. . . . He has very long, thin fingers, which seem
to be clever at mechanical work ; indeed he seems to
have been clever at everything, and to do all things well.
... A short time before he died — a Wednesday, — you
and he were at a banquet together, and drank each
other's health. " Tony " then told you, that he had not
been feeling well, and that he was in great need of a
holiday. . . . Antoine told me again to-day, that he
loved Lucie dearly ; " and," he said, " I still watch over
her, even now ; tell her no evil will ever befall her."
\_Rien de mauvais ne lui arrivera.~\

* II. The preceding are the most important of the
data concerning my friend Antoine B., given me in
Madame X.'s letters during the month of October 1900.
I repeat Madame X. was at Fontainebleau, and I at
Carqueiranne. Therefore, I could not have given her
any hints by my words, and I am particularly anxious
to point out a fact, of which I am absolutely certain,
which is, that I had never pronounced the name of my
friend Antoine B, in the presence of Madame X. ; I am
positive that no word of mine could have afforded the
smallest clue to Madame X. of my acquaintance with
Antoine B.

' I may also add that, though to-day four years after
these visions occurred, Madame X. has become one of
my friends, at that moment, October 1900, our ac-
quaintanceship dated from a few months only ; and, at
Madame X.'s own request, in order to avoid hints and
suggestions, I abstained from ever speaking with her on
anything save vague, general topics. Madame X., at this
time, lived a secluded, retired life in a convent, seldom
going out and receiving no visitors. She was, moreover.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 219

almost an entire stranger to Paris, having arrived there
only a short time before I made her acquaintance. If
Madame X. spoke of any one of my deceased friends
to-day, it would be impossible for me to affirm positively
that I had never pronounced that name in her presence ;
but, thanks to the great care I took at that moment to
avoid all manner of confidences whatsoever, continually
seconded in my efforts by Madame X. herself, I can
certify that the name of Antoine B. had not been pro-
nounced up to the month of October 1900.

' Therefore my stupefaction was indeed great, when I
discovered in Madame X.'s letters so many precise and
correct data, though mixed up with occasional errors.
And when I speak of precise and correct data, I do not
mean data, traces of which may have been left in printed
matter. I speak of private, unpublished facts, facts
known only to me or to his wife. Notwithstanding
this, however, I was blind to the truth. And I sought
to explain away these phenomena of lucidity, by an
apparently rational explanation.

' Here is the fable I invented, for I think it may be
useful to acquaint the reader with my hesitations, and the
manner in which I tried to explain these facts. First of
all, I supposed that Fontainebleau was a mistake, since, as
far as I knew, Antoine B. did not go to Fontainebleau in
1883. At the same time, I thought I remembered he had
been a pupil at the School of Artillery at Fontainebleau
in 1874. But, I asked myself, why should Madame X.
speak about Antoine B., whose name I was and am
certain never to have pronounced in her presence ? I
found, or rather I thought I had found, the explanation.
Tn the month of September 1900, Antoine B.'s daughter

220 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Madeleine, the wife of Jacques S., died, and one or two
newspapers mentioned this sad and premature death.
Now, I supposed that Madame X. had unconsciously
glanced over one of these newspapers, that Antoine B.'s
name had appeared therein with his biography more or
less fully traced, our relations mentioned [he had been
director with me of the Revue Scientifique^'] and reference
made to his term at the School of Application at
Fontainebleau, That was my fable.

* It is true there were several other facts awaiting
explanation; but I did not let them hinder me, — so
dazed are we by the fear of meeting with the truth just
where it really is, when we find ourselves in the presence
of facts, with which force of habit has not yet rendered
us familiar,

' I will not dwell upon the absurdity of this manner of
thinking ; I will simply repeat, that my first thought was
that this vision of Antoine was simply the souvenir of
some sub-conscious reading, with here and there a few
gleams of lucidity, already very important in themselves,
but not exceeding in precision or in importance other
proofs of lucidity, of which Madame X. had already
given me numerous and decisive examples.

' Well ! I was altogether wrong ! It was a conversa-
tion which I had with Antoine B.'s widow, [she was now
Madame L., having married a second time] which
showed me my mistake.

' During the summer vacation in 1901, she was
staying at my house at Carqueiranne, and one day I
happened to speak about Madame X.'s visions concern-
ing Antoine. As soon as I began, Madame B. became
agitated ; the recital wrought upon her feelings consider-

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 221

ably. When I had finished, she furnished me with the
two following fundamental facts, facts which entirely-
destroyed the point of view I had first of all adopted :
I. " Antoine was never a pupil at the School of Applica-
tion at Fontainebleau " ; 2. " In 1883 he and I were at
Fontainebleau together."

* Consequently the scaffblding I had erected in order
to explain Madame X.'s visions entirely collapsed.
The connection between Antoine and Fontainebleau —
connection discovered by Madame X. — could not have
been provoked by the souvenir of the reading of any
newspaper, and the hypothesis — a very improbable one
moreover — of a sub-conscious souvenir, of the uncon-
scious reading of a hypothetical newspaper, had therefore
no raison d'etre. So that the knowledge of a connection
between Antoine and Fontainebleau could not have been
due to any printed matter — since, naturally, no news-
paper had mentioned this private detail in Antoine's life
— or to any suggestion I might have given inadvertently
— since I was ignorant of the fact.

' Three other hypotheses remain : — that of chance, and
this is so absurd, that it is useless even to mention it ;
that of collusion between Madame X. and Madame
B., a hypothesis which is as absurd as the preceding
one, even if it were possible, for neither of these two
ladies had or have ever seen one another ; lastly, there is
the hypothesis of an extraordinary lucidity, on the nature
of which I will not dwell, in order to avoid theorising,
but which I must, perforce, be content with simply
pointing out.

' There is not the slightest trace left of Antoine B.'s
visit to Fontainebleau in 1883, At Barbizon, where

222 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

he stayed with his wife from the 15th May to 20th
June 1883, he lived in a rustic inn, which has been
demolished to make way for a tram-line. No writing,
no letter, no souvenir of any kind whatever could have
furnished a clue to this private detail in Antoine B.'s life.

' III. I will now confront the reality, such as it was
in June 1883, with what Madame X. wrote me in
October 1900.

' I. In order to go to Fontainebleau, or rather to
Barbizon, M. and Mme. B. left the train at Melun. It
is impossible to say, whether the initials of A. B. and
the name of Lucie are engraved on a tree in the forest.

' 2. "There is much resemblance between Antoine, as
he was, and the physical portrait drawn of him by
Madame X., especially the soft, caressing expression of
the eyes. In politics he held advanced opinions for his
time, and, had he lived, he would, in all probability,
have been a socialist to-day ; at least his opinions would
have been very favourable to socialistic doctrines. The
sentence, Nous etions tristement heureux^ is character-
istically true ; for at Barbizon, in spite of our long walks
and our reveries in the forest, he was already very weak
and in the grip of the illness which, soon afterwards,
carried him ofF so rapidly." [The above was written
and handed to me by Madame B. in October 1901.]

* 3. Lucie is not Madame B.'s name. Her name is
Marie. But Antoine often said to her, " What a pity
you are not called Lucie ! " It was his favourite name.

' 4. It is quite true that, alone among all my friends,
Antoine called me " Carlos," and that I, on my side,
called him " Tony." This is a fact known only to me.
It is also perfectly correct — and I am not aware of

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 223

having related this fact to any person whomsoever — that,
when Antoine died, stricken to death in a few hours by
a disease of the heart, I went into his death-chamber
and kissed him on the brow.

' 5. All the details relative to the construction of
machines, electric wires, invention of the telephone,
[before Gr. Bell's invention had been made known],
collaboration with me in a scientific work, all these
details are correct.

' 6. The house in which he stayed at Fontainebleau
stood by itself, with its back to the forest ; a tramway
passes there to-day, the house having been pulled down
to make room for it.

'7. His daughter (who died in September 1900, at
about the time when Madame X. says she first heard a
voice call me " Carlos ") was called Madeleine. His
sister's name was Louise. Louise married M. H. of
Jewish origin. [There are Jews in his family. '\

' 8. He was thirty-two years old when he died, and
his death was almost instantaneous. It would be im-
possible to describe his death more correctly than
Madame X. does in the words : ^lelque chose I'a etouffe
a la poitrine^ et ce fut tout. In fact, towards eleven
o'clock in the night he was seized by a thoracic oppres-
sion, which made such rapid progress, that he expired at
four o'clock in the early morning.

' 9. He was not wounded during the Commune ; but
once when, as a reserve artillery officer, he was assisting
at gun-firing at Grenoble he lost the hearing of the left
ear, an affliction which saddened him very much. Pro-
bably I knew this, but, if so, I had completely forgotten
it. It was Madame B,, who related this detail to me in

224 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

October 1901, a detail absolutely unknown to every one,
for Antoine never spoke of it.

' 10. When Antoine was already grown up, shortly
before his marriage, his father, Louis, suffered heavy
losses of money through a defaulting cashier, Antoine
did not take this to heart ; moreover, no one ever
knew of the incident, which was carefully kept from
the knowledge of every one outside of the family.

'11. He wrote under a pseudonym. He wrote a few
insignificant plays in 1876 or 1877 ; but it would be
almost impossible to recover traces of them to-day.

'12. The house where he was born, and where he
lived up to the time of his marriage, is very old
(situated on the Quai de H., and not in the Faubourg
Montmartre) ; the furniture is ancient ; the house is
quite unlike a modern one.

*I3. The description of Lucie, his wife, is exact — "a-
very charming woman with beautiful dark hair and eyes."
Antoine had a portrait of her in a locket, which he used
to wear on his person.

'14. In a conversation I had with him a short time
before his death, he spoke to me about the extreme
fatigue which he felt, a kind of general lassitude, and of
his great need of change and rest.

' In all the above facts there is an admirable and most
unlikely concordance between the reality and the indica-
tions given by Madame X.

' To be quite complete, I ought to mention the facts
which I have not been able to verify, and those which
seem inexact to me.

' Among the facts I have been unable to verify, are
the names of Yvonne, Josephine, Sarah, Marguerite,
Georges, Clotilde.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 225

* The chief inexact details are the story of Lucie's true
husband — a Jew (un gros juif) — and of the child Lucie
and Antoine had, of whose existence hardly any one
knew ; also the detail of having been wounded during
the Commune and his wound having been dressed by my
father. I ought also to add that Antoine and Marie B.
were at Fontainebleau with their three children. How-
ever, for reasons which I will develop further on, these
errors have a great interest and merit an attentive
examination.

' When considering these phenomena we must, first
of all, rid ourselves of commonplace prejudices. The
question is, not whether such or such a phenomenon does
or does not concord with recognised ideas, but whether
the phenomenon exists or does not exist — always suppos-
ing, of course, that it be not in flagrant contradiction
with established and verified truths.

' Therefore every effort of demonstration must be con-
centrated on this one point : Can we explain the above
facts by any known process } For the sake of simplicity
let us only take one of the facts, that of the presence —
"or of the thought'''' — of Antoine B. at the Melun rail-
way station. We have seen that I fell into error by
endeavouring to explain this presence — or this thought
— by a term at the School of Artillery at Fontainebleau ;
and I do not see what other explanation can be attempted,
since not the slightest trace is left of Antoine's visit to
Fontainebleau with his wife twenty years ago.

' Even if an expensive detective inquiry had been set
on foot, it is highly doubtful if anything concerning
Monsieur and Madame B.'s visit to Fontainebleau could
have been found out.

226 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

' Therefore, at the very outset, and without taking into
account any of the other exact details in Madame X.'s
visions, we encounter the material impossibility of estab-
lishing any relations between Fontainebleau and Antoine.

' But, just for one moment, let us make the concession
that the names of Monsieur and Madame B, had been
somewhere met with atBarbizon after an interval of twenty
years ; this would immediately entail the knowledge of
many other details ever so much easier to gather than
were those very details given by Madame X., and not
only easier but also more exact. Had this visit become
known to Madame X. by any normal means, there
would not have been the story of an illegal union,
and of a residence of five years at Fontainebleau.^ So
even the mistakes are a confirmation of the truth, one
of the most interesting of confirmations ; for, honestly,
we cannot suppose that, knowing the real facts, Madame
X. would have taken it into her head to add facts, which
she knew to be incorrect.

' To put it in another way, even if we admit this
absurdity of an extremely cleverly conducted detective
inquiry making known to Madame X. the story of
Antoine's life, she would not have distorted the results
of such an inquiry by introducing errors therein. To
take an example, when Antoine was at Fontainebleau
with his wife and three children, she would have
mentioned the other two children. She would also
have said — and this was extremely easy to find out —

1 Let us, however, point out that Antoine had been five years married when
he died, and that he had been at Fontainebleau with his wife, consequently the
error, which consists in saying five years of life together at Fontainebleau, con-
stitutes only a relative error.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 227

that the B. estabHshment was situated on the Quai de
H., and not in the F'aubourg Montmartre.

' Therefore, every point carefully considered, I think
it is absolutely certain that normal means of knowledge
could not establish any connection between Antoine and
Fontainebleau.

' In the second place, unpublished details were furnished.
I will pass over all the details — though they too be
correct — which might be found in biographical or necro-
logical articles ; I will simply draw attention to the
following five extremely private details : —

*i. The name of Lucie; and a locket containing
her portrait which Antoine always wore on his
person.
' 2. The names of " Carlos " and " Tony."
'3. A pseudonym.
* 4. Money lost by his father.
' 5. The circumstances of his death.
' Now, not one of these details could have been found
out by any inquiry, however clever, however well-planned
and well carried out such an inquiry might have been.

' I . Madame B. was the only living person who
knew of Antoine's preference for the name of Lucie.
She had never spoken of this to any one ; and it is
a minute detail of which I was in complete ignorance,
until Madame B. told me of it in 1901, after hearing
about the visions Madame X. had related to me in her
letters, a year before.

' 2. I was the only person living who knew that Antoine
called me " Carlos " ; and this is not a very commonplace
statement, since no one, save Antoine, has ever called me
" Carlos."

2 28 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

' 3. No one ever suspected Antoine of having written
under a nom de plume ; the few insignificant things
he wrote for the stage are so entirely forgotten, that
Madame B. herself remembered nothing about them in
1901 ; and it is even highly probable that what he
wrote could not be found again, the Bobino theatre,
where he presented his plays, having disappeared years

ago.

'4, The monetary losses which his father, Louis B.,
sustained a short while before Antoine's marriage, had
been carefully kept from the knowledge of every one.
These losses were occasioned by a dishonest cashier.
The man was not prosecuted. Notwithstanding the
importance of the sum involved, Antoine was rela-
tively indifferent to the loss, as was distinctly indicated
by Madame X.

' 5. The circumstances of his death are described
with striking reality. I kissed Antoine on the fore-
head when he was dead. Some little time before
the end, he spoke to me about his health, saying he
felt in great need of rest. He did not look ill,
however, and he died, after a few hours' illness only,
from a cardiac affection : quelque chose Fa etouffe a la
poitrine.

' There is still another item of interest, which I wish
to touch upon : this is, the " message " from Antoine to
his wife : rien de mauvais ne lui arrivera. These
words were written by Madame X. in one of her letters
to me, with the indication that Antoine had pronounced
them on a certain day. Now, on that very day,
Madame B. was delivered of a still-born child. She
was, therefore, in a perilous condition at the very time

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 229

Antoine said : " I watch over her, even now ; tell her,
no evil will ever befall her."

'We have, now, to draw our conclusion. The hypo-
thesis of chance is absurd ; the hypothesis of fraud is
absurd ; there remains but a third hypothesis, that of
a phenomenon inexplicable by any of the existing data
of our knowledge. It is for this inexplicable pheno-
menon, that we are going to try and find an ex-
planation.

' Two explanations at once present themselves : a, either
this knowledge is entirely due to the intellectual faculties
of Madame X. ; or ^, some other intelligence inter-
venes, which manifests itself to Madame X.

* a. This hypothesis is rather complicated, for it is not
in the form of abstract knowledge that Madame X. learnt
of all these real facts concerning Antoine, but in the
form of Antoine himself. So that, if it really be only a
question of abstract notions, these abstract notions have
taken a concrete form in order to manifest themselves.
They would thus have constituted a sort of error in
themselves. It has been supposed that Antoine himself
came into the railway carriage at Melun, that he
accompanied Madame X. in her walks in the forest at
Fontainebleau during the whole month of October 1 900,
that he related the story of his life to her ; and there is
something which shocks us in the thought that, though
the story told to Madame X. be true, there was no
Antoine. At the same time, this objection is not
paramount ; for we know so little of the ways in which
supernormal knowledge flows into the mind, that we are
unable to make any negation concerning them.

' Moreover, it is, relatively, more rational, not to

230 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

suppose the intervention of another force, since, a la
rigueur, a human intelligence, under extraordinary condi-
tions of clairvoyance, may suffice to explain everything.

* /3. If other personalities intervene, they may be either
yS', the personality of Antoine B. himself, or, y8", other
forces non-identical with human personalities.

* /3'. Assuredly, the hypothesis that it is the conscious-
ness of Antoine B. himself who came to Madame X. is
the simplest, and at a first glance, it satisfies us. But
then ! what a number of objections such a hypothesis
raises ! How is it possible for the consciousness to
survive after death .? How can intelligences which
suffer birth escape death .? A beginning implies an
end : Birth implies death, the one involves the other !

^ ^". Other forces such as genii, demons, angels, etc.,
may exist, as strict logic commands us to admit. There
is a certain impertinence in supposing that, in the
Infinite Immensity of Worlds and Forces, man is the
only force capable of thinking. It seems to me necessary
to admit, that there exist intelligent forces in nature,
other than man ; forces, which are constituted differently
to him, and are consequently imperceptible to his normal
senses ; these forces may be called angels, genii, demons,
spirits, no matter the name we give them. It is evident,
however, that this hypothesis of intelligent forces ought
not to be confounded with the hypothesis of human
personalities surviving after death. These are two
absolutely distinct hypotheses. Now, I think that it is
not the hypothesis of intelligent forces which is doubt-
ful ; what is extremely doubtful is that these forces
can enter into communication with man. Moreover,
as in the case under notice, why should they take the

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 231

material appearance of a deceased human being, and
declare their identity with such ?

' We see that all the explanations so far put forth are
imperfect, and, for my part, I find them so imperfect,
that I am inclined to believe in some other hypothesis
which I do not know, which I cannot even guess, but
which, nevertheless, I am convinced exists, since here
we have real facts, which not any of the hypotheses
heretofore presented can explain in a satisfactory manner.
It is to this hypothesis X that I attach myself, for the
present, recognising, while doing so, that there is a
certain amount of irony in proposing a hypothesis, of
which I am unable to give the formula.

* In conclusion, we see that this case of Antoine B.
involves the whole problem of spiritism. It appeared
to interest you, my friend, and I have, therefore, related
it to you, because the simple and complete narration of
facts ought to precede theories.'

No'vember 1903.

'My dear Maxwell, — The series of phenomena
concerning Antoine B. do not cease with the recital I
recently sent you. That recital comports an epilogue
not less extraordinary than itself. I say an "epilogue,"
for most assuredly it has some connection — of a
psychological order — with the preceding recital. I will
set it forth as concisely as possible :

'One evening in May 1903 I was dining with
Madame X. and her family. After dinner we tried
for phenomena, but received nothing. Towards the
close of the evening, shortly before I left, Madame
X. pronounced the following words — words which I
wrote down among my notes as soon as I reached

232 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

home — " I see a woman standing near me ; she has
grey hair, she is about fifty years of age, but looks older
than she really is. Her hair is quite grey. I believe it
is Madame B." (Antoine's widow), "though I am not
quite sure yet. I see the figure 7 with her, which
probably means that she will die in seven months, or on
the 7th of some near month." Such is the copy of the
very brief note I took of Madame X.'s words. I ought to
add that this note is a much abridged account of Madame
X.'s actual words, and that she also said : — " Madame B.
is very ill ; she has some sort of chest complaint — per-
haps tuberculosis — and she will die very soon indeed."

* What renders this premonition extremely interesting
is that Madame B., at that moment, was only very
slightly ill. She was so slightly indisposed, that not for a
moment did the thought ever cross my mind, that her
indisposition might turn into anything serious. Neither
I nor any one in the world suspected any danger what-
soever. But fifteen days after this prognostication had
been made, the apparently slight bronchial affection
from which Madame B. was suffering, and of which I
had, naturally, never said a word to Madame X.,
remained stationary, but still the idea that the result
might prove fatal never entered into any one's head.

' Nevertheless, the result did prove fatal. Madame B.
died, within seven weeks after Madame X.'s prediction,
on Tuesday, 30th June 1903, after a very sudden and
irresistible aggravation of her previously slight indisposi-
tion, which carried her off in four or five days. The
illness turned out to be a sort of pulmonary affection,
the nature of which is still unknown to the doctors who
attended her : (tuberculosis ^ infectious grippe ^).

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 233

' An interesting detail : Madame B. had black hair ;
I, who knew her well, had never noticed any grey in her
hair ; I did not know she was grey. Now a few days be-
fore her illness took a serious turn, one of the members
of my family who had just been paying Madame B. a
visit, said to me : " Madame B. does not dye her hair any
longer, so that one can now see how very grey she is ! "

' Here is a veritable premonition. The authenticity of
this remarkable fact cannot be doubted, for it would
have been impossible for me, or for any one else, by
means of telepathy, or in any other way, to convey to
Madame X. the idea of a death, in which I did not
believe, and which did not, even for a moment, cross my
mind, or any one else's mind.

' Such, dear Dr. Maxwell, is the epilogue of the recital
I sent you. Although we cannot state precisely the
link uniting the diverse psychical phenomena exposed in
my two letters, I do not think we can consider them as
independent of each other. There are certain mysterious
relations here, which the future, aided by our patience,
will certainly elucidate. — Yours sincerely,

'Charles Richet.'

'January 1905.

'Dear Friend, — During the revision of the above
pages, whilst I was showing them to Madame X., the
latter told me that " the family B. were not yet done
with " \tout n est pas fini encore pour la famille B. /] ; her
words conveyed to me the impression of a presentiment
of some misfortune about to fall upon that family.
These words were uttered between 3 and 4 o'clock on
the 23rd December 1904.

234 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

' Now, during the night of the 23rd-24th December,
towards 1 1 o'clock, Louis B. (the son of Antoine B.)
narrowly escaped being killed in a serious railway
accident. That he was saved was little short of a
miracle. When, on the morning of the 24th December,
I saw by the newspapers that Louis had escaped, I was
struck by the thought that Madame X.'s prediction
\jout nest pas fini encore pour la famille 5.] had been
on the point of becoming realised.

' Alas ! the presentiment was but too true ; for Oliver
L., the son of Madame B.'s second husband, was in the
same train as Louis B., and, though the morning papers
did not mention the fact, he was killed instantaneously.

' I have another interesting point to mention in con-
nection with this presentiment. On the 8th July 1903
Madame X. wrote to me saying, that Madame B.'s
death (she had just died) would be soon followed by
another. She added : ' Some one tells me that one of
the sons will soon die, — before the end of two years.
I think it is Jacques B., but they do not say so.'
\^uelquun me dit qu un des fils mourra bieniot^ avant
deux ans. Je pense que cest Jacques B.^ mais on ne le dit
pas.~\

' Thus this premonition — somewhat vague it is true —
pronounced eighteen months before, was realised. It
will be remarked that Madame X., by adding her own
impression to her auditory perception, committed an
error ; whilst the perception itself, though not very
explicit, was correct. — Yours very sincerely,

' Charles Richet.'

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 235

II. MOTOR AUTOMATISM

The observations which I have just laid before my
readers, relate to facts occurring in the domain of
sensibiHty ; the motor centres do not escape automatism,
and there is a whole series of motor automatisms, simple
or mixed, to be noticed. For the sake of clearness, I
will divide them into four classes : —

1. Simple muscular automatism : — Typtology ; Plan-
chette ; and diverse alphabetic systems, ouija, etc.

2. Graphic muscular automatism : — Automatic script
and drawing ; Planchettes, baskets, tables.

3. Phonetic automatism : — Automatic discourses.

4. Mixed automatisms :— Incarnations.

I will remark, first of all, that the word automatism,
borrowed from Myer's terminology, is not strictly correct.
In reality, we can only speak of automatism when we
are in presence of mechanical acts, excluding interven-
tion of the will. Now this is not the case with the acts
in question ; these acts, which appear to be automatic
if they are looked at solely from the point of view of the
personal consciousness, are in reality due to some sort of
consciousness, parasitic or non-parasitic, and offer the
characteristic features of voluntary acts. These reserves
made, I will continue, for want of better, to use the
word consecrated by custom.

I. Simple muscular automatism. — I designate thus
those acts which require no association of complicated
movements, such as the movements of writing and
language exact. The simplest way of provoking this auto-
matism is in the ordinary spiritistic process of typtology.

The experimenters sit down round a table, and lay

236 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

their hands lightly on it. Sooner or later the table
trembles, sways about from side to side, sometimes turns
round, but more often raises one of its feet and strikes
the ground with it. A code of signals is arranged to
express ' yes,' ' no,' ' doubtful ' — e.g. three, two, and
four : — the manner in which the alphabet is to be pointed
out is also agreed upon, either the table will strike the
number of the letter's rank, for example, one for A, three
for C, 15 for O, 20 for T, etc., or it will strike the
floor when the letter desired is pronounced.

I rank this phenomenon with automatisms because,
nearly always, it has appeared to me to be due to invol-
untary, or unconscious movements. I do not like this
kind of experiment ; it does not carry conviction. Gas-
parian, and after him, Chevreul have given the correct
interpretation of it.

It is interesting only when the communications
obtained reveal facts, apparently unknown to the
experimenters. Then the phenomenon is no longer
explicable by simple automatic action : the muscular
movement is determined by the impersonal consciousness
of the sitters or the medium, and becomes the manner
of transmitting the message addressed by the impersonal
consciousness to the personal consciousness. In fact,
we conceive that, if what I said concerning parakinesis
be correct, the movements of the table may be some-
times parakinetic. I have been present at many seances
for typtology, but I have never verified interesting facts,
except the one I related concerning Ton ton la Pipe.
When the experiments are conducted under the condi-
tions which I consider indispensable, I am careful not
to encourage typtological manifestations.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 237

There exists other means of inducing simple muscular
automatism. The best are instruments after the style of
the psychograph. The alphabet, numbers, and the words
' yes,' ' no,' ' I do not know,' are written on a dial in
the centre of which a needle is placed. The displace-
ments of this index hand indicate the letters, numbers,
etc., like the needle of the dial of a Breguet telegraph.
These dials are made of different sizes, and of different
materials. It is best, however, to construct them in the
following manner : — take a square piece of white wood,
non-resinous, from seventeen to twenty inches broad.
Trace thereon a circumference of seven to nine inches in
diameter, and write around it the letters of the alphabet,
numbers, the words, ' yes,' ' no,' ' I do not know,' and any
other desired indications. Place in the centre of the circle
a bone or ivory pivot, the axis round which the needle
will turn. Make the needle of wood, giving it enough
thickness and solidity for the hands to be able to rest on it.
It is not necessary to give much mobility to the needle if
the hands are to rest on it ; in this case, it will sufHce
to pierce a hole in it, through which the pivot may pass.^

I have been told of cases where the needle moved of
its own accord ; but I have not personally verified this
fact. If movements of the needle without contact be
desired, it would be well to give a more perfect suspen-
sion to the needle : this may be accomplished by support-
ing it on small movable rollers, like those on the plan-
chettes used for automatic writing.

I have rarely experimented with psychographs, for
the same reasons which made me shun typtology.

1 Articles of this nature may be found at Leymarie's, 42 Rue Saint-Jacques,
Paris ; and at the office of Lig/it, 1 10 St. Martin's Lane, London.

238 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

I will say the same thing of another kind of apparatus :
the ouija, made in England. It is a board on which
the alphabet and other signs are written, A small
movable planchette supported on three or four feet
is placed on the board ; the sitters put their hands
on the planchette which points out the letters, etc.,
with one of its feet, a process which is irksome, to say
the least of it.

There are yet other means for inducing muscular
automatism. I will point out, as an example, the very
ancient method of divination by the ring. A metal, or
better still an ivory ring, is suspended to a hair or silken
thread. The end of the hair or thread is held in the
fingers ; the ring is held, thus suspended, in the centre
of a small circle of three or four inches in diameter on
which the alphabet is written.

At the end of a certain time, the ring sways about,
then strikes the letters, sometimes spelling out words.
By placing the ring in a glass, it will strike against it,
giving indications in this way. I have only used this
method once or twice, for it seemed to me to present
very little interest. This is in reality Chevreul's explor-
ing pendulum.

2. Automatic script. — Automatic writing is, I think,
one of the most interesting of all phenomena ; I have
no need to bring to mind the important studies which
Myers, Hodgson, Hyslop, Sidgwick, and others have
made on this phenomena. I have been able to make
some observations of great interest, but the limits of
this book do not permit me to give a detailed report of
them. The thorough examination I made of one par-
ticular case of automatic writing — a rather rudimentary

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 239

case, it is true — clearly revealed to me the play of the
unconscious souvenirs of the medium.

The methods for obtaining automatic writing are
numerous. We can even make a table write by fixing a
pencil to one of its feet ; the same with a hat or basket,
etc. More perfect methods exist, of which the follow-
ing are the best : —

First of all the planchette ; an instrument in the
shape of an oval piece of wood, resting on three movable
tiny ivory rollers, with a small copper setting at one end,
in which a lead-pencil may be screwed. With the plan-
chette two or three persons may write at the same time.

Another equally good method is the following : Fix
two, three or four handles on to a large wooden ball, of
about seven inches in diameter. Fix the pencil in a hole
bored through the ball, each handle of which is held by
an experimenter. Place a sheet of paper underneath
the pencil, the latter will then often move and write
words and phrases.

Finally, the best method of all is to write naturally,
without any instrument at all. The sensitive sits down
with a pencil, as though to write, and waits.

Whatever the method adopted may be, it is seldom
that automatic writing is manifested at the outset.
Generally one or several seances are passed in illegible
scribblings, in making strokes, zigzags, in endless
repetitions of the same letter. But we must not be dis-
couraged ; on the contrary, we must continue experi-
menting for a certain time, before concluding to the
impossibility of success. Whether we be trying to
obtain collective or ordinary automatic writing, it is a
good plan to consecrate ten or fifteen minutes every day,

240 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

always at the same hour, to these trials. The pheno-
menon takes a long time to evolve, and people, who have
obtained most curious results with automatic writing,
have passed months in developing their faculty.

As I said before, I have chiefly directed my experi-
ments towards the observation of movements without
contact ; therefore, I have not sought very assiduously
to obtain automatic writing with my mediums. The
greater number of cases I have observed offer little
interest, if we compare them to the curious visual hallu-
cinations which I related a little while ago. I will make
an exception though for one which I am in the act of
studying, and which makes me conceive some hopes,
the sensitive having written in English, a language
which I am positive he does not know. This medium,
like many I have met with, submits grudgingly to these
experiments, and has not yet consented to sit regularly
for automatic writing. I hope I may succeed in per-
suading him to do so.

Though my observations present very little relative
interest, I will give some examples of the results I have
obtained personally. I will give them simply as indica-
tions, for, none of the facts I have observed present,
so far, any real interest, except the one I was able to
analyse, and even this contains nothing of a transcen-
dental nature.

I myself have often tried to write with the planchette.
I obtained words and incoherent phrases, all extremely
commonplace. I wrote alone or with others ; alone, I
obtained it with the left as well as with the right hand.
The left hand sometimes gives mirror-writing, Spiegel-
schrift ; with the planchette, the left hand generally writes

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 241

in the usual manner from left to right. One point to be
noted with planchette-writing, is the dissociation of the
graphic elements. The letters are as a rule fairly large,
varying from an eighth of an inch to nearly an inch. It
is chiefly in capital letters we find the dissociation
curious. The characteristics of my hand-writing are
not altered. I will add that this manifestation does not
present much interest, for I am perfectly conscious of
what I write when alone, and when I write with another
person, the movements of the planchette indicate to me
what letters are being formed.

With the ball and handles, of which I gave a descrip-
tion, I once observed a curious fact. I was experiment-
ing with a lady and her husband ; the former is a
medium whose faculties are above the average. The
writing announced the reception of a letter from
Hendaye on the morrow. The letter came ; but to
demonstrate the premonitory feature of this fact, I have
only the affirmation of my co-experimenters, and
although they are people of unimpeachable probity,
their affirmation alone would be insufficient to establish
the reality of the premonition in a positive manner.
Therefore, I only give it as a specimen of the facts which
may be obtained with automatic writing.

I have often observed ordinary writing, but I have
never obtained a veridic paranormal fact in this way. I
have, as I said, studied a case of semi-automatic writing,
and was able to analyse its psychological features
thoroughly. The writer was what spiritualists call an
intuitive medium, that is to say, he was conscious of what
he wrote. He was thirty-five years of age, and had
never indulged in spiritistic practices before, though he

Q

242 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

knew the literature, especially Allan Kardac's works.
At the time the phenomenon manifested itself with him,
he was mentally overdone through excess of brain work.
He occupied an important official position. Apparently
he has no nervous defect, and, except for frequent
headaches, his health is good. I have not been able to
study his reflex movements, nor examine him from a
somatic point of view.

He commenced writing with the planchette ; he had
a sensation of being guided, but knew what he wrote and
what he was going to write. There was, therefore, a
beginning of dissociation between the mental images,
properly so called, and their motor action. This fact
should be noted, because it seems to me to have an
interesting signification, in so far as it demonstrates that
the ideomotor image is not simple, but has complex
elements, and, notably, that elements which are purely
ideal and motor elements can become dissociated. In
the example cited, the sensitive was fully conscious of
the ideas which were formed in, or which presented
themselves to, his consciousness. On the contrary, he
was not fully conscious of the movements his hand made.
The stereognostic perception and the muscular sense
were intact ; only the consciousness of the origin of the
accomplished movement was obscure ; therefore, it was
only the sphere of voluntary motor power in the
personal consciousness which was touched.

The first manifestations of pseudo-automatic writing
claimed to emanate from a deceased relation. This
relation was quite disposed to communicate facts known
to the sensitive, but manifested very little eagerness to
answer questions which the sensitive's consciousness could

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 243

not answer. Invited to justify his identity, the person-
ality showed itself incapable of giving the slightest proof.

Meanwhile, the sensitive tried ordinary writing, and
obtained it. It presented the same features as planchette-
writing. A new personification came and assisted the
deceased relation — he was nothing less than a Mahatma
from India ! At this time the sensitive was reading the
works of Madame Blavatsky and Mr. Sinnett, especially
the latter' s Occult World. The communications were
signed Hymaladar. This Mahatma presented nothing of
transcendental interest, and was lavish with his promises.
He declared he was ready to undertake the exoteric
education of the sensitive, who, in his naivete, yielded
to the Mahatma's advice. The Mahatma promised to
transport him actually over to India, to precipitate
letters, etc. The promises were never fulfilled.

Other personifications manifested ; the sensitive tried
to obtain some proofs of identity, but without success.
On the other hand the personifications were verbose on
general topics, and gave proof of a lively imagination.
Here are some specimens of their style and ideas.

A guide, signing himself Memnon, expressed the
following opinion upon a certain mystic book : —

' . . . Do not allow yourself to be led away by its
descriptions : they apply to all those who, in no matter
what religion, devote themselves to a contemplative life,
which is, assuredly, a blessing, but one which must be
won by patience and effort. When the duties common
to every man born of the flesh have been fulfilled, ab-
stention from the imperious duty of procreation can, and
really does, favour the faculty for projection of the soul,
and renders ecstasy easier; but not only is such a

244 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

development artificial, it is also reprehensible to arrive at
that contemplative life, without having founded a family
in compliance with the imprescriptible law of nature.
Herein lies the original vice of all religious communities
which offend creation's views ; it would suffice to
generalise the doctrine to discover its falseness imme-
diately. Man has physical as well as moral duties to
accomplish : he is composed of a body and a soul ; he is
culpable when he subordinates one of his composing
parts to the other. The senses have no more the right
to command the body than the soul has of making the
body suffer in its physical functions. The suppression
of any natural function is criminal, and every religious
order does this. This is their capital error. He who
has raised children and satisfied the physical evolution,
he alone has the right to withdraw from the world, to
lead a contemplative life, when the body, worn out by
old age, has finished its active role here below. It is
only then that preparation is useful.'

The pencil was verbose every time general subjects
were broached. Whenever the sensitive pressed the
personification on some given point, the latter was silent
— he disappeared. The questions were written as well
as the replies. There are some amusing conversations,
where the ' spirit ' plays a role other than that of simple
interlocutor. By way of specimen, I note the following
dialogue : —

Q. Do you see me }

A. Yes, but badly ; we do not see matter clearly ; a
long apprenticeship is necessary, and we have not been
working long with matter.

Q. Is it long since you left your sphere ?

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 245

A. Eight years.

Q. Who are you ?

A. Monsieur A.

Q. And?

A. And Mamie Beaupuyat.

Q. You have known me ?

A. Yes, I was one of your college friends.

Q. Where.?

A. At N.

Q. What college ?

A. Z. College.

Q. Will you write your name again .''

A. Maurice B. (here the name of a street).

Q. I do not remember having known you my friend.
Remark this, you have given me two different names,
Beaupuyat and B.

A. Many details are forgotten in Paradise (sic).

Q. Ah ! strange ambassador ! You come to see me
without letters of credit 1

A. Good-bye.

Q. Good-night.

The subconscious excuse for the contradiction pointed
out is not wanting in humour.

Here is another example : —

Q. Are my guides here ?

A. We are always at hand to help you, always.

Q. Will you show yourselves to me ?

A. Ought you to ask us for anything before giving
us tokens ?

Q. Is it X, who is influencing me ?

246 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

A. Yes.

Q. But he is dead ?
A. Yes.

Q. But you forbid me to evoke the dead ?
A. We are the spirits of dead people.
Q. But you told me you were Mahatmas }
A. We are M.ahatmas^ but Mahatmas are not living.
Q. Is it again a trick of my subliminal ?
A. Yes, your subliminal is the will.
Q. Yes, it is true, but the will is chiefly superliminal.
A. You are right.

Q. Why do you always make fun of me ^
A. We do so to please the Lord.

Q. This is cruel. I am in earnest, and your lord, if
he be just, will punish you severely for your farces.
A. Yes, he will give us the whip.
Q. I do not like this joking, leave me.
A. Always . . . (illegible).
Q. What.?
A. Magician.
Q. Am I a magician ^
A. Yes.

Q. I did not know it.

A. Always do good, and you will be happy.
Q. Happiness is not so easy to obtain.
A. Good-bye.
Q. Who are you ?
A. A friend.

This is simply nonsense. I have quoted these three
examples in order to show the growing analogy found
therein with the delirium of dream. It is scarcely visible

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 247

in the first quotation, which is coherent, logical and of
fairly elegant form. But the ideas which are expressed
have their sources in subconscious souvenirs : they
will be found in Spirit Teachings^ Higher Aspects of
Spiritualising Occult World, and Esoteric Buddhism.

The second quotation reveals decided oneiroscopic
associations. The name Beaupuyat awakens no souvenir ;
the name of a street having nearly the same assonance
is then substituted for it ; this is an illogical association,
formed by phonetic elements. The explanation of the
contradiction between the names given successively is very
illogical, but it is what might be called ' a good hit.' This
is one of our ways of reasoning with ourselves in dreams.

The third quotation shows a still more marked degree
of incoherence. The first replies are attempts at con-
ciliation of contradictions impossible to do away with :
they are affirmations which are but echoes of the ques-
tions asked. I do not quite understand the association
between subliminal and will ; but the emergence of the
idea of will gives place to a curious phenomenon : the
evolution of a parasitical association of ideas bringing
to mind the psychological phenomenon which A. Pick
describes under the name of Vorheidenken. We have
non-expressed stages, from will to ' God's will,' words
which are often associated together in religious language :
'to do the will of God, to be agreeable to God.' The
incoherent reply, which consists in saying that the
Mahatmas make fun of the subject in order to be
agreeable to God, Is then the last link of a chain of
latent associations ; this last link is the only one shown.
Also, the incongruous idea of beings who call them-
selves spirits and wise men, and declare they must be

248 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

whipped, is the result of an evident association between
the idea of being severe consciously expressed, and the
idea of severity, chastisement, whip, average latent terms.
The psychological analysis, therefore, reveals to us
mental processes which are known and classed. It
shows us, that the dream character of subconscious
messages does not differ from that observed in the
mental operations of the consciousness, as soon as
the latter's personal and voluntary activity becomes
weakened or gradually gives place to spontaneous
ideation. I think the three examples I have chosen
show this progressive debihtation very well, and also
the corresponding accentuation of the characteristics
of dream in the messages obtained. The case I
examined is at the limit of paranormal facts, but the
inquisitive reader has at his disposal the weighty
analysis of the transcendental cases published in the
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research^ epitomised
by M. Sage in his book Mrs. Piper et la Societe Anglo-
Americaine des Recherches Psychiques^ to verify the
accuracy of my conclusion, viz. that the mental pro-
cesses in simple cases, as well as in the more complex
cases, are identical.

I return to the case observed by me. The obstinacy
of even the best and most moral of these personalities in
refusing to expose themselves to any control whatso-
ever, the falsehoods they were imprudent enough to
overlook, and the critical attitude of mind of the
sensitive himself, awakened a spirit of distrust in the
latter. He began to observe himself, and the first result
of his observation of the conditions under which the
writing was produced, was the gradual disappearance of

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 249

the sensation of impulse which he had felt : his pencil,
he told me, had seemed to follow a magnet. As this
sensation weakened and disappeared, so the personifica-
tions affected to be either grievously pained, or cold and
dignified, or frankly insolent ; they all deplored the
sensitive's incredulity. The relation bade him adieu and
appeared no more ; Hymaladar himself ceased to be
interested in his chela. The sensitive soon saw the
futility of his efforts, and the writing ceased completely
to present the peculiarity it had offered during several
weeks.

This case is instructive, because it is on the border-
line between conscious and unconscious phenomena.
Thanks to the clear and complete indications on the
part of the sensitive, I was able to reconstitute the
genesis of every personality. That of the relation is
easily explained, but Hymaladar was more rebellious
to analysis. Upon investigation it appeared to me to
be the synthesis of the words Hymalaya and Damodar.
The one, which quite naturally evokes the thought of
India, is the dwelling-place of the sages who, it appears,
preside in a very secret manner at the evolution of the
theosophical movement ; the disciple or chela of one of
them was the guru, the master of Madame Blavatsky.
His name was Damodar. The associated ideas —
Blavatsky, India, Hymalaya, Damodar — lead up to the
word Hymala (ya Damo) dar-^ the genesis of the word
is thus quite comprehensible.

At present I am observing a more complex case, in
which paranormal phenomena accompany automatic
writing. The sensitive, who is in the act of developing
his medianity, unfortunately gives himself up rather

250 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

unwillingly to observation. He does not know English,
yet he has automatically written certain phrases in
EngHsh. However, we must not conclude therefrom,
that these messages are of transcendental origin. This
sensitive is a well-educated person, and most probably
English words and phrases have fallen under his eyes
from time to time ; thus the irruption of English in
messages he obtains may be explained by the emergence
of subconscious souvenirs. The tenor of the messages
is still vague ; the writing is often difficult to read ; no
precise fact capable of being analysed and verified has so
far been given. It appears to me useless, in these cir-
cumstances, to give examples of these messages, but I
will point out an interesting peculiarity which I have
observed only with this sensitive. This is the con-
comitancy of raps and automatic writing. I have most
carefully studied these raps ; they appear to me to occur
on a level with the point of the pencil. The pheno-
menon is forthcoming in broad daylight, and under
excellent conditions of observation. An attentive
examination shows that the point of the pencil does
not leave the paper. The raps are forthcoming even
when I put my finger on the upper end of the pencil,
and when I press the point on the paper. The pencil
vibrates, but it is not displaced. As these raps are very
sonorous, I have calculated that it would be necessary to
give rather a strong knock in order to reproduce them
artificially : the necessary movement would require rais-
ing the pencil from the twentieth to the eighth of an
inch, according to the intensity of the raps. Now, the
pencil does not appear to be displaced. Further, when
the writing runs quickly the raps succeed one another

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 251

with great rapidity, and the close examination of the
writing reveals no stops ; the text is unbroken, no trace
of pencil dots is perceptible, there is no thickening of
the characters. The conditions of observation appear to
me to exclude the possibility of a trick. I will add that
during this automatic writing the arm and hand of the
sensitive are in a state of anaesthesia.

3. Phonetic and mixed automatisms. I combine
these two categories of automatisms because the auto-
matism is seldom purely phonetic. The sensitive makes
gestures appropriate to the personage he represents, and
the automatism is complicated ; the muscles which
regulate the emission of the voice are not the only
ones in activity.

This kind of automatism is very easy to observe. It
is the basis of ordinary spiritistic seances; it is called
' incarnation ' or ' control,' and the sensitive, who pro-
duces this kind of phenomena, is called a ' trance
medium.'

Its necessary condition is the trance or somnam-
bulistic state. The sensitive falls asleep spontaneously,
or is put to sleep artificially by passes. After a certain
time, more or less long, and after diverse movements,
the most usual of which seem to be muscular contractions
of the face and pharynx, the sensitive enters into som-
nambulism and passes into the secondary state. Some
subjects fall asleep very quickly. It is not a rare thing
in spiritistic seances, for two or three persons to enter
into a state of somnambulism at the same time. The
perfection of the sensitive's acting, when personifying
diverse individualities, is most striking when they have
known the persons they are imitating. Observation

252 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

is extremely interesting. In spiritistic seances these
personalities, naturally, always represent spirits.

I have seen nothing in this order of phenomenon
which appeared to me worth noting. Everything is
easily explained by the play of impersonal memory and
by imitation. Many transcendental facts have been
related to me : personally I have observed none. But
I have very rarely tried to provoke trance phenomena.
They do not present the same interest to me as physical
phenomena do. The most interesting I have seen, were
given me by Madame Agullana, in private seances.
This sensitive's most curious personality is that of a
doctor, who died about eighty or a hundred years ago :
he has always refused to give any information concerning
his identity ; the reason he advances for maintaining his
incognito — the existence of his family, members of whom
are living in the south of France — does not satisfy
me ; I imagine he is withholding the best. His medical
language is archaic. He calls plants by their ancient
medical names ; his diagnosis, accompanied with extra-
ordinary explanations, is generally correct, but the
description of the internal symptoms which he perceives
is such as would astound a doctor of the twentieth
century. Matters, fluids, molecules, dance a strange
saraband. Nevertheless, my colleague from beyond the
tomb — not at all loquacious, by the way — retains a
serenity, which is proof against everything, and humbly
recognises that there are many things he does not know.
During the ten years I have been observing him, he has
not changed, and presents a logical continuity which is
most striking. Persons, who are not au courant with
the features of secondary personalities, might easily be

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 253

deceived and believe in his objective reality. Be he what
he says he is, or be he what I suspect him to be, that is
to say, one of the sensitive's secondary personalities,
my confrere Hippolytus is an interesting interlocutor,
and, with his conversation, one could write a work on
clinical medicine v/hich would be rather out of the
common. This is not the place to study him, for his
examination only raises problems of psychological
interest. In these phenomena of mixed automatism, of
' incarnation,' we observe the complete development of
personifications. These personifications are the feature
common to all psychical phenomena. Raps claim to
emanate from a given personality, paranormal move-
ments have the same pretension, automatic script assures
us of a like origin : ' incarnation ' or ' control ' puts
forth the claim of being the personality himself, in full
possession of the sensitive's body, directing and using
it as he pleases.

The problem which these personifications set before
us is, perhaps, the most interesting of all those which
are to be met with, in the kind of study to which this
book is consecrated. I have pointed out, that the general
feature of these personifications is to present themselves
as living — or more usually deceased human beings. My
observations do not tend to make me think that this
claim is well founded. It does not come within the
scheme of my work to analyse the different hypotheses,
which have been emitted by the different mystic schools.
Occultists profess to see astral shells, in these personifica-
tions, debris — still organised — of the body's astral double,
which the superior principles have abandoned. Theoso-
phists have about the same theory, designating these

254 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

debris by the name of elementals. Spiritists attribute
their phenomena to the spirits of the dead. Roman
Catholics see the intervention of the devil therein, while
the greater number of savants only see fraud or chimera.
All these opinions are too absolute. There is, certainly,
something ; but I think this something is neither spirit,
shell, elemental nor demon. It is not my province
to formulate in detail my theory : properly speaking,
I have not any. I observe without bias of any kind,
and the only indication I can give is the following : —
in almost every case I have studied, I believe I recognised
the mentality of the medium and the sitters in the
personification. It is true, there are certain cases which
I cannot explain in this way ; but the spirit hypothesis
explains them still less satisfactorily. We must continue
seeking.

The examples I have given of intellectual phenomena
show that in every case of which I have been able to
make a thorough analysis, we discover the action of the
impersonal consciousness. This explains itself naturally,
since the personal and voluntary consciousness excludes
by definition the co-existence of a second personality.
Nevertheless, this is not absolutely true. The medium,
of whom I have already spoken, he who produces raps
when writing, writes automatically while he speaks, in
quite a natural way, of other things. In fact, he only
writes well when his attention is drawn away from his
hand. As soon as he is conscious of the movement,
the writing ceases. Things happen with him, as though
the normal consciousness lost all contact with the motor
centres of the arm and hand. A special consciousness
appears to be developed in these centres.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 255

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AUTOMATISM

The difficulty, which is raised by the interpretation
of facts of the kind exposed above, is considerable. It
is to be remembered, that the sensitive of whom I have
just spoken, does not appear to suffer any diminution
of his normal personality ; he converses with facility,
his normal personal souvenirs and his intelligence remain
intact. His arm and hand alone, especially the latter,
are withdrawn from consciousness, and this in the
sensitive as well as in the motor spheres. Janet sees in
these facts psychological disaggregation, and in many
cases his explication is the correct one. But it cannot
be applied to the case I am speaking of, for no
diminution in the memory, intelligence or mental
activity is perceptible. However, Janet seems to have
only seen one of the phases of these curious pheno-
mena. I attach so much importance to the establishing
of the point de fait that, before all analysis thereof,
I desire to state it precisely, successively with the
discussion.

The first circumstance of fact which observation of
the case I am examining reveals, is the one I have
just pointed out : an apparent dissociation of the normal
personality, from the cenesthesic consciousness of which
a portion of the body is withdrawn. The second
circumstance is the relative knowledge of English —
with correct orthography excepting one mistake only —
which is shown by the apparently self-governed limb.
Note also that I feel sure that this knowledge of English
is probably subconscious, and that I have supposed,
although this has not been proved, that the writer has

256 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

now and then come across a few English sentences,
containing the phrases written by him. These two
circumstances are, for me, observed facts.

From these facts there results a third fact, the conse-
quence of the first two : the consciousness, which directs
the limb withdrawn from the personality, appears to have
more considerable resources — at least from a memory
point of view — than the normal consciousness. If it be
correct to speak of apparent disaggregation in that which
concerns the conscious normal personality, it seems to me
that this expression ceases to represent the facts, as soon
as it can be demonstrated, that the consciousness mani-
fested by the automatism is more extensive than the
normal consciousness. If we are to attach a precise
meaning to language — and Janet's language is so clear
and simple that we may not accuse this elegant and
remarkable writer of want of precision — the idea of
disaggregation implies the division of the personal
consciousness into elementary parts, according to defini-
tion, lesser than the whole. This phenomenon is
frequently observed, e.g. when automatic writing shows
itself to be incapable of logical co-ordination, of which
I have given examples ; sometimes there is no trace
of thought, properly so called, e.g. when the sensitive
confines himself to repeating sine die the same letter, or
traces nothing but lines, and strokes, etc. But can we
consider the case as one of veritable disaggregation where
the hand, withdrawn from normal consciousness, appears
to dispose of a greater mass of souvenirs than the normal
consciousness does ?

Janet himself has verified the fact, and gives some
examples of it in his work, Nevroses et idees fixes., vol i.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 257

After that, is it not contradictory to say {^Automathme
psychologique, p. 452) : ' The result of our studies has
been to bring back the diverse phenomena of automatism
to their essential conditions — most of these phenomena
depend upon a state of anaesthesia or abstraction. This
state is connected with the narrowing of the field of
consciousness, and this narrowing itself is due to the
feebleness of synthesis and the disaggregation of the
mental compound into diverse groups smaller than they
should normally be. These diverse points are easy to
verify ; the state of abstraction, incoherence, of dis-
aggregation, in a word, of suggestible individuals has
often been pointed out.' How can a group, smaller
than the mental compound of which it forms one of
the parts, be more considerable than that compound ?
How can a part be greater than its whole ? This is,
nevertheless, a fact easily verifiable in the domain of
memory and sometimes in that of intelligence. Janet's
theory explains only some of the observable facts ; it
is only partially true. It suffices to compare the quota-
tion I have just given with what he says in his work,
Nevroses et idees fixes^ vol. i. p. 137 : 'The souvenir
even in somnambulism only exists if the patient be
oblivious to everything and replies automatically to
questions, by the mechanical association of ideas without
reflection, without the personal perception of what he is
doing.

' . . . The souvenir, in a word, is only manifested
unknown to the person : it disappears when the person
has to speak or write in his own name, conscious of what
he is doing.' For Janet this is the sign of mental
disaggregation.

R

258 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

The quotations 1 have just given define sharply Janet's
opinion, and show up his mistake and his contradiction.
That which becomes disaggregated is the personality, the
personal consciousness. But it does not become resolved
into groups smaller than they ought normally to be,
since these groups often show themselves to be more
comprehensive than the mental compound. It is, there-
fore, illogical to consider them as a part which has
become dissociated from the whole.

I have already had occasion to express my manner of
thinking in other writings : nevertheless, perhaps I may
be permitted to indicate the direction which psychological
interpretation should take in order to avoid an encounter
with facts.

The personal consciousness is only one of the modali-
ties of the general consciousness. Clinical observation
reveals that, in a great many cases, it has been proved,
that the souvenirs stored up in the general conscious-
ness are infinitely more numerous, than those which
the personal consciousness has at its free disposition.
Myers has expressed these ideas most happily in the
following words (' The Subliminal Consciousness,' Pro-
ceedings, S. P. R.y vii. p. 301) : —

' I suggest, then, that the stream of consciousness in
which we habitually live is not the only consciousness
which exists in connection with our organism. Our
habitual or empirical consciousness may consist of a
mere selection from a multitude of thoughts and sensa-
tions, of which some at least are equally conscious with
those that we empirically know. I accord no primacy
to my ordinary waking self, except that among my
potential selves this one has shown itself the fittest to

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 259

meet the needs of common life. I hold that it has
established no further claim, and that it is perfectly
possible that other thoughts, feelings, and memories,
either isolated or in continuous connection, may now
be actively conscious, as we say, ' within me ' — in some
kind of co-ordination with my organism, and forming
some part of my total individuality. I conceive it
possible that at some future time, and under changed
conditions, I may recollect all; I may assume these
various personalities under one single consciousness, in
which ultimate and complete consciousness the empirical
consciousness which at this moment directs my hand
may be only one element out of many.'

He appears to me to be nearer the truth than Janet is :
I do not know if we shall ever arrive at that complete
consciousness which Myers hopes for, but it seems to
me probable, that our personal consciousness is only
one element of our general consciousness. This latter
becomes concrete and definite, but also grows less by
becoming personal. The apparent supremacy of the
personal consciousness may be only an effect of the
circumstances in which we are evolving ; if Darwin's
ideas are true, we can understand that the necessities
of life may have favoured the development of the active,
voluntary, personal consciousness ; we can imagine other
conditions — which the monastic life sometimes realises
— where the active and voluntary phases of the general
consciousness may be less evolved than its receptive and
passive phases. Therefore, the psychologist finds the
study of hagiography teeming with information.

Janet's disaggregation is but the weakening of the
sentiment of the conscious and voluntary personal

26o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

activity, of what I called the sentiment of the personal
participation in intercurrent psychological phenomena.
It is no veritable disaggregation ; it is a disappearance
of one modality of the consciousness, of one of its
limited expressions^ so to speak. However, I recognise,
with Janet, that this mode of expression of the con-
sciousness is the necessary basis of our activity in
ordinary life, and that it is legitimate to consider as
invalids, those persons in whom it is normally wanting.
But the fact itself of its disappearance has more the
features of an integration than of a disintegration, since
upon an attentive examination, the personal consciousness
is revealed as a limitation and a special determination of
the general consciousness of which it is, in a way, a
dismemberment. If 1 dared to use metaphysical
language, I would say that rational and voluntary
activity is in reahty a disaggregation ; personality is
only a contingent and limited manifestation of the
being, or rather of individuality. This latter, to use
the expression of an eminent philosopher, would be
superior to reason itself, and of irrational essence, an
idea which contains the first principles of a new philo-
sophy. I m_ake this incursion into metaphysics merely
to show how narrow Janet's theories are, and what
different consequences result from such a professional
manner of thinking as his is, and from a more general
conception of that, of which his manner of thinking only
concerns one particular case.

The facts, moreover, condemn Janet's theory. I
have too high an opinion of the distinguished man
whose ideas I criticise, but whose works 1 admire
sincerely, not to be convinced that he has only observed

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 261

undeveloped subjects. What demonstrates this in my
eyes is his timid affirmation, that ' nearly always (I do
not say always in order not to prejudice an important
question) these mediums are neurotics, when they are
not downright hysterics.' It is difficult to discuss an
opinion expressed with so much reserve, and I can
only commend him for his circumspection, for my
personal observations contradict his. I have seen many
mediums : the best were not neurotics in the medical
sense of the word. The finest experiments I have
made have been with persons appearing to present none
of the stigmae of hysteria. Up to the present Janet seems
to have operated with invalids only, and I am not sur-
prised, therefore, that he should assimilate the automatic
phenomena of sensitives with those of his hysterical
patients. It would be surprising were it otherwise. I
am not going to defend spiritistic mediums ; they appear
to me to present very poor interest— at least in ordinary
seances — but my duty is to protest against the generality
of the judgment which Janet brings to bear upon auto-
matic phenomena. Those facts, which are worthy of
careful observation, differ essentially from those which
ordinary hysterics present. They indicate no mish~e
psychologique — quite the contrary, and I will state the
reasons why.

The discussion, in order to be clear, must be divided :
I. The phenomena observable with good mediums
are not those we observe in hysterical patients. I said I
had obtained raps and movements without contact under
conditions of control, which appeared to me to be con-
vincing, I added that I had obtained by raps, or by
the rappings of a table without contact, words and

262 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

phrases which were extremely coherent. This is not
quite the kind of phenomena to which hospital patients
have accustomed us. What does Janet say on this
point ?

* The essential point of spiritism is indeed, we believe,
the disaggregation of psychological phenomena, and the
formation beyond the personal perception of a second
series of thoughts detached from the first. As for the
means which the second personality employs to manifest
itself unknown to the first — movements of tables, auto-
matic writing or speaking, etc. . . . — this is a secondary
question (sic). Where do those sounds come from
which are heard on tables and walls in answer to
questions.^ Is it from a movement of the toes, of that
contraction of the tendon supposed by Jobert de
Lamballe ....'' Is it from a contraction of the stomach
and from a veritable ventriloquism as Gros. Jean
supposes, or from some other physical action yet
unknown ^ Are they produced by the automatic
movements of the medium himself, or, indeed, as
appears to me most likely in some cases, in the
obscurity demanded by the spirits (I) by the subconscious
actions of one of the assistants, who deceives others
and himself at the same time, and who becomes an
accomplice without knowing it? It does not matter
very much.'

That is not my opinion. I think, on the contrary,
it matters a great deal. I am positive that every sincere
and patient experimenter will observe, as I have done,
in broad daylight, and not in obscurity, sounds and
movements which will not appear to be explicable by
any known cause. Those who, like myself, have

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 263

verified these facts, will not dream of attributing them
to unconscious or involuntary movements, to the
cracking of a tendon, to ventriloquism. The cases
observed by me will not admit of this explanation.
Things happen as though some force or other were
produced by the medium and the assistants, and could
act beyond the limits of the body. If this fact be
correct, can we consider it as secondary and without
importance .'' On the contrary, does it not open to
the psychology of the future the road of direct
observation and experimentation, if, as I have tried to
show, this force preserves certain relations with our
general consciousness ? Does this not make one think
of those words of Proclus when speaking of souls : —

TpLTT) oe avrat? Trdpecmv rj Kara Tr)v IBiap virap^iv
evipyeia, KiirqTiKT] jxev vwdp-^ovcra roiv ^vaei
erepoKLPTJTCov. Souls have a third force inherent to
their essence, that of moving things which by their very
nature are put into movement by an energy foreign to
themselves.

Has not Janet a singular way of reasoning ? He
makes a reserve on the existence of another ' physical
action yet unknown,' but quickly forgets it, and reasons
as though that action were perfectly well known. ' That
action, whatever it may be, is a/ways an involuntary
and unconscious action of some one or other : the
involuntary word from the intestines (!) is not more
miraculous than is the involuntary word from the
mouth ; it is the psychological side of the problem
which is the most interesting, and which ought to be
the most studied.'

I am sure that those of my readers, whose patience

264 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

has not been too severely tested by my long analysis
of facts observed, will not consider my distinguished
colleague's conclusion as acceptable. The most interest-
ing side of the phenomenon is, I think, the one which
reveals to us an apparently new mode of action of the
nervous influx upon matter.

2. These phenomena, again, are not the indication of
a mis^re psychologique, as Janet thinks.

Let us discuss the cases observed by me. To follow
my reasoning, it will be necessary to be familiar with
the works of Gurney, Podmore, Sidgwick, Myers,
Barrett, Hodgson, Lodge, Hyslop, du Prel, Perty,
Hellenbach, Aksakow, Richet, de Rochas. To-day,
it is no longer possible to shun the work of such savants,
(when dealing with a question of such a nature as that
which engrossed Janet) by simply saying as he did ' that
he had not had occasion to read the Philosophie der
Mystik of a man like du Prel.' He should have read
that book . . . and many more.

It seems to me to be now quite an established fact,
that the impersonal consciousness is capable of per-
ceiving accurate impressions independently of the senses.
It translates these impressions in diverse ways in order
to transmit them to the personal consciousness, but
these translations are concrete and symbolical. It is
a hallucination visual, auditory, or tactile. The form
of subliminal messages, to use one of Myers' expressions,
is always the same, be the fact thus transmitted true or
false, be it a reminiscence or a premonition. This is
already a psychological ascertainment of great importance,
for it puts us on the road we must follow, in order to
discover the mental process of this psychological pheno-

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 265

menon. But there is something else. The hysteric
who automatically simulates a drunkard, a general, a
child, offers us a very different spectacle to the one
offered us by the sensitive who telepathically sees an
event happening afar off, or who predicts the future,
or reveals facts unknown to himself and the assistants.
There are thousands of examples of these facts ; I have
given a few which were observed by myself or related
to me first-hand.

Is it possible to consider this extraordinary faculty as
a ' disaggregation ' ? Is it possible to class phenomena
of this kind v/ith the commonplace phenomena of
somnambulism and 'incarnation,' the only ones Janet
has observed ? It sufHces to put the question to receive
the answer immediately. The psychological mechanism
of these facts, so unlike one to the other, is probably the
same, but the cause of the apparent automatism, motor
or sensory, is certainly not the same. The sensitive,
of whom I spoke, who sees in the mirror twenty-four
hours beforehand, the very scenes she actually sees the
next day, presents to us a phenomenon of considerable
importance. It intimates that time and space are forms
of the personal thought and consciousness, but that
probably they have not the same signification for the
impersonal consciousness. It is a phenomenon which, if
it be true, demonstrates experimentally that Kant's theory
upon the contingency of these ' categories ' necessary to
all conscious and personal perception is exact.

I am quite aware of the nature of the reply I shall
meet with : my observations have been defective ; and
all those who before me affirmed the existence of the
same facts were also deceived. This simplifies the

266 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

discussion. The history of science offers us many an
example of the manner in which facts are received, when
they contradict current ideas. Kant said more than a
hundred years ago, in his Traume eines Getstersehers^ i, i.:
' Das methodische Geschwatz der hohen Schuien ist
oftmals nur ein Einverstandniss durch veranderliche
Wortbedeutungen eine schwer zu losenden Frage auszu-
weichen, weil das bequeme und mehrentheils verniinftige,
" Ich weiss nicht," auf Akademien nicht leichtHch gehort
wird.'^

The discussion on Janet recalled to my mind these
words of Kant's. His expression, m'lsere psychologique is
one of those words of double meaning, true, if we con-
sider only a part of the facts and one aspect only of the
phenomenon, that which concerns the personal con-
sciousness ; inexact, if we study the facts in their totality
and the phenomenon they reveal in its generality. The
being who would be capable of perceiving at a distance,
by looking into space and into time, would have faculties
superior to the normal ; he would not be the inferior
being imagined by Janet.

An attentive and patient observation will show him,
I am sure, the reality of the facts which I point out ;
may he not deny this possibility without putting himself
under the requisite conditions for observing these facts.

It belongs to the future to decide the question, and I
have no doubt whatever upon the nature of the verdict.^

To sum up, an attentive observation of the facts

1 The methodical idle prattle of the high schools is often only an under-
standing to elude, by words of variable acceptation, a question difficult of
solution, for we do not often hear in academies such convenient and ordinarily
intelligent words as ' I do not know.'

2 See Appendix A.

PSYCHO-SENSORY PHENOMENA 267

shows, that in psychical phenomena we observe the
emergence of personifications which may be secondary
personahties, but which in really clear cases present
particular features, and seem to possess information
which is inaccessible to the normal personality. They
may co-exist with the latter, without any disorder
manifesting itself in the sensitive or motor spheres ; in
other cases, they encroach upon the normal personality,
which may either lose the use and sensation of one member,
or be deprived of several members. Finally, the
personification can invade the whole of the organism
and end in incarnation or ' control,' a phenomenon of
apparent possession. When it reaches this maximum
development, the personification manifests a remarkable
autonomy, and appears to be much less suggestible than
in the intermediate stages of its evolution.

What are these personifications .? I do not know.
The problem they raise in some cases is extremely
difficult to solve. I can only say that they do not
appear to me to be what they claim to be. Is it
collective consciousness ^ Is it self-deception ^ Is it
a spirit .'' Everything is possible, to me nothing is
certain save one thing, namely, that we must not put
our trust in them.

I say this for the benefit of spiritists, who have a
tendency to believe blindly everything their good spirits
tell them. These ' spirits ' may make mistakes, though
they may not wish to deceive you. Never abandon
yourself or submit the conduct of your life and affairs
to their guidance : submit only to the rule of reason
and sound judgment. Be not over-credulous.^

1 See Appendix C.

268 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

CHAPTER VI

SOME RECENTLY OBSERVED PSYCHICAL
PHENOMENA

An account of some recently observed Psychical Phenomena
produced in the presence of Doctor Maxwell and
Professor Charles Richet. Arranged by the Translator
from notes furnished by Dr. Maxwell}

During the last two years exceptional opportunities
have been offered Professor Richet and Dr. Maxwell
of observing a medium — whom we will call Meurice —
who has furnished Dr. Maxwell with many of his most
important examples of psychical phenomena. I refer to
phenomena spoken of on pp. 74, 81-2, 101-3, 136-7,
152-5, 160-2, 195-9, 2oi-2j 250.

Dr. X. — a friend of Professor Richet — who does not
wish his name to be mentioned, having been present
with Professor Richet and Dr. Maxwell at some of their
experiments, has sent Dr. Maxwell a few notes con-
cerning those seances at which he was present. Dr.
Maxwell has authorised me to put these notes in order,
and to add to them a few extracts from letters written by
Dr. Maxwell to Professor Richet and myself.

These notes and letters were written either during

' It is scarcely necessary for me to certify to the accuracy of the phenomena
mentioned in this chapter, especially when I am spoken of as having been
present. — Maxwell.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 269

or immediately after the seances, if I may so call the
impromptu occasions on which the phenomena to be
spoken of were obtained.

There is, in these notes, a miscellaneous stream of
evidence, the complexity and importance of which may
be presumed, when it is pointed out that a useful com-
bination of two orders of research has been at work
therein. Dr. Maxwell was chiefly interested in the
study of the facts concomitant with the phenomena,
whatever they might be, whilst Professor Richet devoted
himself to the analysis of the personifications, and to the
study of the manifestations from a purely psychological
point of view.

Evidence is the touchstone of truth, and though
the reading of parts of this chapter may sound more
like pages out of a fantastic story than the words
of savants, yet the publication of these facts has been
judged necessary by Professor Richet and Dr. Maxwell,
in their belief that no one is justified in setting aside
facts which have been well attested. These facts have
been observed — let it not be forgotten — in a spirit of
pure scientific curiosity.

It is, therefore, hoped that this chapter will receive
the thoughtful consideration of many ; and that careful
analysis will be especially given to those very parts, the
unreal-like romantic nature of which seems to render
them, at a random glance, unworthy of serious thought.

THE MEDIUM AND HIS PHENOMENA

An acute analysis of a medium is of primary
importance in the examination and appreciation of his

270 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

phenomena, therefore we will first of all dwell a little on
the personality of M. Meurice, the medium in question.

He is a friend of Dr. Maxwell's — a friend of some
years' standing.

He is a slightly built man, the reverse of robust,
but endowed with remarkable vitality and recuperative
powers. He is thirty-two years of age ; he is unmarried.
He is highly sensitive and reserved in disposition, and
forms quick but lasting sympathies and antipathies.
He gives one the impression of being always in a state
of hypertension ; his nervous system is most finely
strung, and he appears to experience an irresistible need
of constant physical movement. He passes easily from
the extremes of joy to the extremes of sadness. Highly
nervous though he be. Dr. Maxwell has never observed
any signs of hysteria, or any symptoms of a lack of
equilibrium in the medium's mentality. He is not
amenable to the hypnotic sleep, but Dr. Maxwell says
he has sometimes thought that he might eventually
succeed in inducing that state. The few attempts so
far made in this direction have given no results ; more-
over, M. Meurice does not care to submit himself to
this kind of experimentation. His cutaneous and other
sensibilities are normal ; his reflexes also are normal.

He suffers occasionally from violent headaches and
neuralgia ; and has frequent gastric attacks, notably after
the production of telekinetic phenomena. Otherwise his
health is good. During the production of phenomena,
M. Meurice often acknowledges to a sinking sensation
in the epigastric region, and says it is as though some-
thing material were being drawn out of him at such
moments.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 271

He is well read in every branch of literature, and has
a most retentive memory. One has the notion that this
medium, to a great extent, has under his conscious
control a large range of what is generally submerged
faculty.

Subliminal operation is, no doubt, constantly going
on with us all, but it is most apparent in M. Meurice.
One feels with him that his unconscious memory is always
on the alert.

Amnesia appears to follow rapidly in the footsteps of
his visions, but several things seem to indicate that this
amnesia is only apparent.^

Dr. Maxwell says he always thought he had a psychic
in his friend. However, notwithstanding his medical
studies, and wide range of knowledge of things in
general, M. Meurice was ignorant of metapsychical
phenomena, and averse to becoming acquainted with the
practices of spiritism or anything of that nature. Little
by little Dr. Maxwell induced his friend to take some
interest in these phenomena, and one day he persuaded
him to put his hands on a table with a view to seeing
whether the two of them together could obtain any
phenomena. Raps were immediately forthcoming ; they
resounded on the floor. The medium was startled by
the unusual noise and quickly rose from the table.
Nothing more was received on that occasion or for

^ The amnesia, which appears to follow medianic phenomena, bears a
certain relation to the amnesia which follows dreams. It is probably due to
the weakness of the links between the conscious personality and the forgotten
images. The links exist, but are not strong enough to bind those images to
the usual stream of personal consciousness. They serve as clues, however, and
the reappearance of the images at a given moment is due to the working of
the usual laws of association. — Maxwell.

272 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

some time afterwards. Then, for two years, M. Meurice
reluctantly and irregularly yielded to Dr. Maxwell's
persuasions to develop his medianity.

For some time he could not be made to see the im-
portance of his phenomena, and Dr. Maxwell refused
to give weight to his words by appealing to technical
literature. He was desirous of keeping his friend
in ignorance of current notions on these phenomena,
thinking the results would be of greater value if the soil
they sprang from were virgin.

M. Meurice has done all in his power to throw light
upon his own phenomena. His co-operation has been
precious, for often his fine intelligence and well-trained
powers of observation have enabled him to bring into
the research valuable analyses of his sensations and
impressions. For this medium not only does not lose
consciousness during the production of his phenomena,
he is often at such moments more thoroughly * all
there ' — to use a Scotch expression — than in his unpro-
ductive moments of abstraction. True, there have been
a few exceptions, but, as a rule^ he is keenly alive to
all that is going on when phenomena is forthcoming.

The passages I have indicated in Dr. Maxwell's work
will acquaint the reader with the order and degree of
phenomena presented by M. Meurice, when Professor
Richet made his acquaintance. Dr. Maxwell had studied,
almost exclusively, the physical aspect of the facts he
received, and did not encourage phenomena of an intel-
lectual order. This scientific attitude, however, had not
prevented the manifestation of the phenomenon of -per-
sonification ; and the * raps ' speedily put forth the claims
common to spiritualistic beliefs — in spite of the medium's

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 273

ignorance of them. When Professor Richet began to
experiment with M. Meurice, the ' raps ' had already
claimed to emanate from ' John King,' ' Chappe d'Aute-
roche,' a group of four entities calling themselves the
' good fairies,' and, lastly, from two of Dr. Maxwell's
deceased friends.

As the capital interest of this chapter lies in the
intelligent aspect of the phenomena, there is a fact of
paramount importance to be pointed out with emphasis.

Our medium is very amenable to influence, and his
phenomena constantly show the effects of suggestion and
influence, I do not, by any means, wish to infer that
M. Meurice is like wax in the hands of his friends ; on
the contrary, if it were only a question of personal
consciousness, we might say he is almost impervious
to the action of extraneous influences. His ways of
thinking and acting bear the stamp of independence,
and if he yields occasionally to the wishes of his
friends, it is out of pure friendship and with delibera-
tion. When, however, we are endeavouring to make a
psychological study of a medium, we strive to reach the
lower strata at once ; the surface is of little interest when
we know that the secret lies below. Therefore, when
I say that M. Meurice is most amenable to influence, I
am bearing in mind that profound region, his general
consciousness. The personal consciousness may be
rebellious to influence, but the subliminal is reached by
subtler means than is its grosser envelope, and is
remarkably amenable to the charm of suggestion and the
voice of sympathy. In all probability the reader will
find sufficient evidence of the accuracy of my assertion
in the phenomena to be spoken of in the course of this

s

274 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

chapter ; therefore, I will not dwell any further upon
this point, although it be an important one.

When experimenting with Eusapia Paladino, Professor
Richet had remarked and called attention to the syn-
chronism which existed between her phenomena and her
movements or muscular contractions. Dr. Maxwell, in
his turn, also remarked it, and forthwith bent his studies
in that direction. The conclusion appears to be evident
that a profound and far-reaching importance lies in the
synchronism between the movements of the experimenters
and the phenomena. It was observed that Dr. Maxwell
was indeed able to produce phenomena of raps and
telekinesis [of very feeble intensity, it is true] by tap-
ping the medium on his hands or shoulder, by firmly
squeezing the hands, joined in a circle above the table,
or by the simple contraction of his own muscles.

En passant, it may be useful to note that Dr. X. was
opposed to the idea that synchronism always existed
between the phenomena and the movements of the
experimenters, that is to say, that muscular contraction
was alone responsible for the phenomena. Dr. X. was
so opposed to this notion, that his presence at seances
where this synchronism was being demonstrated, has
often been observed to cause all manifestations to cease
— to nullify the results. If Dr. X. was able to exercise
this power over one centre, it is highly probable that his
presence would exercise a like inhibitory influence over
other centres of energy, where like experiments were
being conducted.

Though Dr. Maxwell had obtained not a few
phenomena showing intelligence {e.g. raps claiming to
emanate from various personifications), yet, as he says

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 275

In his book, pages 26, 28, and 83, he did not feel
drawn towards that order of research, and did his best
to keep the phenomena on physical lines. But since
Professor Richet has experimented with M. Meurice, the
phenomena have developed rapidly along the lines of
intellectuality: a result which may, it is true, be due to
our medium's good-nature in allowing his power to be
used as was desired, or which may be the effect of
influence and suggestion. We are inclined to think
the latter is nearer the truth, an opinion which is sup-
ported by the fact that when Dr. X. and Professor
Richet were present — that is to say, within a few days
after Dr. X.'s appearance in the circle— synchronous
phenomena could rarely be obtained.^

Now, all unknown to Dr. Maxwell, Professor Richet
had passed the previous three years in the study of these
same phenomena from a psychological standpoint, and
at the moment of his first visit to Bordeaux, he was
particularly absorbed in the research and analysis of
intelligent messages received by means of a physical
phenomenon. His desire, for the time being, was to
receive messages — of identity or otherwise — by means of
raps without contact.

Already familiar with the fact of synchronism — which
a little experience suffices to show is not due to self-
suggestion or endosomatic activity — Professor Richet
wished to get on to fresh ground ; as before said, he
wanted intellectuality in a physical phenomenon, and it

^ ' Vous voyez, cher ami, que depuis que nous avons experimente ensemble,
votre influence peisiste et nos phenomcnes physiques s'oiientent vers les
messages intellectuels.' — Extract from a letter written by Dr. Maxwell to
Professor Richet six weeks after the first series of experiments with Professor
Richet were held.

276 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

was not long before he got what he wanted with the
medium in question.

And, a fropos, perhaps I may be allowed to briefly
relate at once the first phenomenon containing intel-
ligence, which Professor Richet obtained with M.
Meurice. A short time after having made his ac-
quaintance, the professor and Dr. X. thought they
would try to obtain a ' test.' Supposing, for a moment,
that an entity, who has several times claimed to be com-
municating with Professor Richet, really existed, they
' evoked ' him, and asked him to give them a sign through
M. Meurice, which would denote that he had been
listening to a certain conversation held two hours previ-
ously. The medium and Dr. Maxwell were unaware
that this entity had a speciality of communicating in
Latin or Greek. A few hours afterwards, during
dinner, raps were heard on the table and other furniture
in the vicinity of M. Meurice ; when the question was
asked as to who was rapping, the Christian name of the
entity was given, followed by the word Confide. No word,
it appears, could have borne more directly upon the con-
versation in question. There was difficulty in obtaining
these two words, the raps — in such abundance when not
requested to * work ' — came laboriously, as though some
one were picking his steps among brambles, so to speak.
The medium himself spelt out the alphabet on this
occasion.

Dr. Maxwell has given an analysis of the raps obtained
with M. Meurice, and we especially refer the reader to
pages 79-82 and 250.

When raps without contact delay in coming, M.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 277

Meurice takes a lead-pencil, holds it in his hands, and
presses one end against the table or on an experimenter
according to desire ; the raps then resound at the end
touching the experimenter or the table.

Anaesthesia is observed only in the hand and arm
holding the pencil. " Once or twice," says Dr. X., " I
have observed something like cramp seize the hand and
arm, and extend along the shoulder blade, to the nape
of the neck. On these occasions, I saw the whole arm
vibrate after each rap, like the rebounding of an elastic
band, and I have sometimes thought it looked as though
the ' fluid ' passed down the nerves of the arm into the
pencil, as though it were flowing through a clear open
channel, until it reached the point of the pencil, when
a jerk of some kind appeared to force it out on to the
wood ; not that the pencil or arm moves when the rap
resounds, but one has the impression of an ////mcr jerk
of some kind when, in moments of cramp, the rap is
heard ; this rebounding movement appears to be almost
simultaneous with the rap. Though the medium keeps
his personality alive, as a rule^ it seems to me," continues
Dr. X. (whose opinion is shared by Professor Richet),
" to undergo a diminution of some kind, on these occa-
sions ; ideation appears to be slower and more difficult.
But, because his arm hurt him when this cramp came
on, we have always begged him to cease ; therefore we
cannot say whether, the experiment courageously con-
tinued, complete anaesthesia would eventually set in,
accompanied by psychical phenomena."

It is of importance to point out that both Professor
Richet and Dr. X. (though Dr. Maxwell does not
altogether share their opinion on this point) are inclined

278 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

to believe that M. Meurice can tell when raps are going
to be given, when phenomena will be forthcoming
and when they will not be forthcoming ; a conclusion
which is drawn from many observations.

Some of the messages given in this chapter were
obtained, when out walking with the medium. On
such occasions, M. Meurice would put his hand on a
walking-stick or on an umbrella ; he preferred the
latter. " The raps on the open umbrella are extremely
curious," writes Dr. X. " We have heard raps on the
woodwork and on the silk at one and the same time ; It
is easy to perceive that the shock actually occurs in the
wood — that the molecules of the latter are set in motion.
The same thing occurs with the silk ; and here observa-
tion is even more Interesting still ; each rap looks like a
drop of some invisible liquid falling on the silk from a
respectable height. The stretched silk of the umbrella
is quickly and slightly but surely dented in ; sometimes
the force with which the raps are given is such as to
shake the umbrella. Nothing is more absorbing than
the observation of an apparent conversation— by means
of the umbrella — between the medium's personifications.
Raps, imitating a burst of laughter in response to the
observer's remarks, resound on the silk like the rapid
play of strong but tiny fingers. When raps on the
umbrella are forthcoming, M. Meurice either holds the
handle of the umbrella, or some one else does, whilst he
simply touches the handle very lightly with his open
palm. He never touches the silk.

" Raps without contact appear to require more force,
and are not so frequently forthcoming, as raps with
contact — which seem to be always at the medium's

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 279

command ; consequently — and particularly as the tenor
of the messages received constituted the chief interest
for the time being — the use of the pencil or umbrella
has been encouraged."

All the messages given in this chapter, except where
the contrary is expressly stated, have been received by
contact with a pencil or umbrella — with what Chappe,
the chief personification, calls his telephone.

A marked trait in the phenomena is their spontaneity.
Months will pass away without the production of a
single phenomenon worth mentioning — raps through the
pencil can generally be obtained, however. After the
attraction of the fan (pages 357-8), nine months
elapsed before another telekinetic phenomenon oc-
curred. At other times, the energy is so abundant that
while it lasts, that is to say for two or three weeks,
the medium may truly be said to live in a world
of phenomena in more senses than one ; for, at
such periods, phenomena are constantly forthcoming.
Regular seances are not of much avail with M. Meurice ;
it is better not to seek, but to know how to receive,
which means to know how to wait patiently and
attentively.

A brief analysis of the personifications is necessary
before laying bare their work. The first to manifest
was ' John King.' Subliminal labour is very transparent
herein. M. Meurice had heard not a little of Eusapia
Paladino's secondary personality, which calls itself ' John
King.'

Then the raps announced the presence of a group of
four entities calling themselves the ' fairies ' — les bonnes

28o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

fees. In fact, the latter were the first to make their
presence felt by M. Meurice, though John King was
the first to manipulate the raps. The fairies gave the
names of Miriam, Yolande, Liliane, and Brigitte ; the
latter remained but a short time ; she said she had to
go away somewhere ; she was replaced by ' Wicki,' who
claims to be an ancestor of Dr. Maxwell's, and to have
lived in Ireland during the fifteenth century. The
medium associates the odour of jasmine with the fairies.
Perhaps the following may suggest a clue to the origin
of these entities : —

Some years ago, before Dr. Maxwell had commenced
experimenting with his friend, he was in the habit of
bidding him good-bye with the words, ' ^e les tres bonnes
vous protegent.' When the fairies — les bonnes fees —
appeared, they at once claimed to have been the means
of bringing about the meeting of Dr. Maxwell with
M. Meurice, and of having fostered their friendship.
As for the odour of jasmine : on one occasion, soon
after experimentation had begun, the medium was
talking to the doctor about good influences ; and he
remarked that he sometimes perceived the odour of
jasmine without being able to explain it normally. The
next time the doctor saw his friend, the raps dictated
that the odour of jasmine was the signal of the presence
of the good fairies.

The next personification to manifest was said to be
S., a very dear friend of Dr. Maxwell's (see pages
1 60-1). The genesis of this personification is easy to
follow. S. was one of the leading men in Bordeaux,
where he occupied a very prominent position ; he was
extremely well known — though M. Meurice did not

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 281

know him, and says he never saw him. M. Meurice
witnessed Dr. Maxwell's grief when S. died, and heard
the former say that he had been very fond of S. I
again refer the reader to pages 160-1 for further con-
sideration of the S. personification.

For a few months, the phenomena claimed to emanate
chiefly from the fairies — John King gradually fading
away. Then ' Chappe d'Auteroche ' came on the scene,
and has ever since kept the field pretty much to himself,
— though he permits of the presence of the personalities
already mentioned and a few others if introduced by him.
His first appearance took the form of a vision in the
crystal. The medium saw him in a foreign land, amidst
large red flowers, savage tribes and queer-looking boats
on canals ; he gave his name, the exact day, month
and year of his death, and the cause of his death ; he
described what his work on earth had been — all things
which M. Meurice did not consciously know. Every-
thing, which was verifiable, was found to be correct.

Some time after this, Chappe gave a long and
coherent message by means of tilts of a table without
contact — in daylight ; on this occasion, he gave his
Christian name as ' Adhemar,' which is, probably, an
error, as biographies do not mention it.

Chappe is, doubtless, a subliminal entity ; but his
evolution is more difficult to explain than any of the
medium's other personifications. Perhaps M. Meurice
— an avide reader — has come across some articles in
periodicals, concerning the measurements of the solar
parallax, by means of the crossing of the sun's surface
by the disc of the planet Venus. Chappe was one of
the best-known observers ; he went to Siberia in 1761,

282 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

and to California in 1769, to observe those passages.
His name must certainly have been mentioned in the
newspapers, when the last crossings took place — that is
in 1874 and 1882. But on these occasions, M. Meurice
was only three and eleven years old ! Has he seen the
biographical notice of Chappe in l^arousse's dictionary ?
He has no conscious recollection of having read this, nor
does he remember ever having heard of Chappe the
astronomer. And there, for the present, the matter
must stand.

Another personification — H. B. — made its irruption
towards the end of 1903. M, Meurice was certainly
aware of Dr. Maxwell's profound esteem and affection
for H. B. ; but for further consideration of this personi-
fication, we refer the reader to Dr. Maxwell's notes
thereon, pages 287 and following.

I perceive I am about to end these remarks on the
medium and his phenomena without having said a word
upon a vital point, one which many specialists would
require to be satisfactorily settled before consenting to
listen to an account of the phenomena. I mean the
medium's honesty. Professor Richet, Dr. Maxwell, and
Dr. X. say that, for diverse reasons, they cannot doubt
this particular medium's honourability. As for raps and
telekinetic phenomena, there can be no shadow of doubt
about their genuineness ; the excellent conditions of light,
sight and touch which always prevail when his pheno-
mena are forthcoming, joined to the intelligent co-opera-
tion of M. Meurice, who is as much interested in and
capable of examining his own phenomena as are the
observers, put mystification out of the question.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 283

Is there any evidence of identity, of survival, of
intelligent forces other than human, in this chapter ?
Each one will answer this question after his own manner
of thinking. Some will say ' No.' If we could forget
the extraordinary romance at the end of this chapter —
Series C — we too might answer categorically ' No.'
Though we have given all the leading details of the case,
family reasons have necessitated the omission of much
valuable material in this ' romance,' and perhaps readers
will not see so much in it as those who watched its
development. But even as it stands, it presents some
baffling difficulties. It really seems to indicate that
there is activity in the metethereal environment, and
that the spirit can act in that environment. What
matter, therefore, if it be the spirit of the living or of
the dead ? If one can demonstrate its independence of
the body, why not the other ?

SERIES A

VISIONS

It may be useful to give one or two of our medium's
visions. If these simple phenomena — where so much of
the personal consciousness seems at play — be studied,
some idea may be gained of how far, if at all, the sub-
liminal is responsible for the production of this particular
medium's more intricate phenomena, such as intelligent
messages given by means of raps without contact.

M. Meurice was once visiting Paris. He dined at
my house on the evening of his arrival. This was the

284 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

first time I met him. During dinner, an hour or so
after his arrival, the medium said he saw a vision near
me, and described a personage ' dressed in white and
gold-embroidered robes, who looks like a priest of
ancient times.' The only interest in this is that it
corroborates what two other sensitives, unknown to our
medium and to each other, have on two different
occasions told me.

M. Meurice also claimed to recognise in me and
this bedecked personage, two persons who figured in a
dream-vision he had had, three years previous to meeting
me. We give this dream chiefly for the sake of its rich
symbolism.

The medium wrote an account of the dream at the
time, at Dr. Maxwell's request, the latter being struck
by its oddity. Here is the vision : —

" I dreamt I was sleeping in a bed, the framework
of which nearly touched the ground ; the bed was raised
on a kind of platform. I was in a large hall, which
looked like a church. Suddenly a tall, fair woman,
dressed in black, entered. A man wearing long, white,
ancient-looking garments, embroidered all over in gold,
followed her. Then Dr. Maxwell entered. The man in
white read aloud out of the book, which the fair woman
held open before him. I was suddenly overcome
with emotion. I wept, and wept, and wept. My
tears caused the flowers embroidered on the counterpane
to spring into life ; they grew and multiplied with
amazing rapidity, completely covering the bed and,
finally, burying me beneath their abundance and
weight. The fair woman then said : ' We must seek
for him,' and set to work to remove the flowers.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 285

During this operation, Dr. Maxwell stepped on my
body ; I screamed with pain and awoke."

When M. Meurice awoke, he was suffering from
colic ; this fact may explain parts of the vision.

One day in December 1903, at the close of a seance
when some fine raps at a distance had been obtained,
M. Meurice wrote a few German words. He does not
know German. At the same time he saw, in the crystal,
the words : ' Kolbe, chimiste, mort a Leipzig 1730.' A
few hours after this seance, the medium had a vision of
the personification Chappe, who said, ' Vous ne savez
done lire.'' C'est "mort a Leipzig le 25 Novembre
1884," et pas " 1730.'"

Kolbe the chemist died at Leipzig on the 25th of
November 1884. This information is to be found in
Larousse's dictionary.

The following is an experiment in the transmission of
thought which Dr. Maxwell tried with the medium : —

" I gave my hand to M. Meurice, to hold, and said to
him — we had been talking, in a vague, general manner
of the plurality of existences — ' Try and see how I died
in my previous existence.'

" Unknown to the medium, I wrote down on paper the
words :■ — Fall from a horse !

" M. Meurice answered : ' I see your life, then you
fade away into nothingness ; you die from an accident ;
a carriage — no, a horse accident. I see you wearing a
shield. You fall from your horse, he crushes you to
death.' "

2 86 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

The medium very often sees the same vision repeat
itself in the crystal. This is the vision of a procession
of individuals clothed in flowing robes ; they follow a
long narrow path, which loses itself in a tunnel, into
which the procession passes. The vision never varies,
save that at times after the procession has disappeared
into the tunnel, the path seems to be strewn with the
bones of skeletons.

This vision has also been seen, in the same crystal,
by our medium's youngest sister, a girl of twenty, who
is absolutely ignorant of spiritistic phenomena. She
attributed her vision to an optical illusion.

It has been observed with M. Meurice that the last
vision sometimes precedes veridical hallucinations.

This and other facts would lead one to think that
very probably, for a medium, there is no test which can
discriminate between falsidical and veridical hallucina-
tions. The psychological process appears to be the
same, viz. dramatisation and concrete images, instead
of abstract concepts or ideas.

Mediums, as a rule, possess parasitic personalities
which act in the same way as the normal personality ;
this feature of hallucinatory phenomena is difficult to
analyse, and introduces into the problem a number of
unknown factors.

In the case of the medium in question, the secondary
personalities are weak. They are always felt and objec-
tived by the normal personality, which is never expelled
from the scene — a circumstance which is precious for the
observer as the visions are sometimes vivid to a degree.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 287

With M. Meurice the unknown factors, though existing,
are reduced to a sort of minimum, and the psychological
analysis is perhaps less difficult than in the generality of
cases. In this fact lies the value of his intellectual
phenomena, though it is a drawback indeed from another
point of view, the persistency of the normal conscious-
ness, of the normal will, and even of the normal powers
of attention, being probably the cause of the impurities
which so frequently stain his intellectual phenomena.

NOTES ON THE PERSONIFICATION ' H. B.'

By Dr. Maxwell

" H. B. died at a very advanced age. He was a man
of great kindness of heart, and of deep intelligence. He
had received a solid, classical education. He was born
in a foreign country, went, when a young man, to a
North American state, where he lived for some time.
He married, and finally came to Bordeaux — a town to
which his wife and all her family belonged. H. B. lived
for many years at Bordeaux ; but during the last six
years of his life he was paralysed. He died at a time
when the medium was twenty years of age, and was
pursuing his studies in a hospital at Bordeaux. H. B.
lived a very retired life, confined to the house because of
his infirmity.

" There is every probability that M. Meurice had
never heard of H. B. Although I had known my friend
for some time before the irruption of this personification,
I had been extremely careful to avoid giving him the
slightest detail concerning H. B. He had, however,

288 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

heard me say that H. B. had been one of my dearest
friends.

*' I had been experimenting for about two years
with M. Meurice, when the personification H. B.
first manifested. His emergence took place on the
2nd October 1903, in the form of a vision, which my
friend had as he was going to bed. On the following
day — during a dark seance we were holding in the hopes
of obtaining luminous phenomena — M. Meurice described
his vision of the previous night. His description vividly
recalled H. B. to my mind. I was careful to say nothing,
however. During the seance, the personification Chappe
signified his presence by means of abundant and loud
raps ; at the same time M. Meurice told me he saw a
face, and certain letters written above it ; these letters
formed a name, which indicated to me the presence of
H. B. Thereupon I asked M. Meurice to give me the
Christian and surnames of the vision he claimed to be
looking at ; in reply, the surname was instantly spelt out
by raps without contact ; the Christian name was given
in French first of all, then it was correctly given in
H. B.'s maternal tongue.-'

" H. B.'s first appearances occurred in M. Meurice's
bedroom. From the indications given, I said I had
quickly recognised H. B. Unfortunately, under the

1 H. B.'s Christian name finds its equivalent in French in the name which
had been ' rapped out ' in the first instance. Dr. Maxwell explained this fact
to the rapping force, whereupon the name was correctly given.

This detail of the Christian and surnames is not demonstrative as identity,
because (i) the remarks made by Dr. Maxwell were sufficient to have 'fixed'
any one who had the slightest knowledge of the language in question ; (2)
because the medium already knew the surname of Dr. Maxwell's friend. We
must not forget, however, that the raps were given without contact. — Note by
the Translator,

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 289

necessity in which 1 find myself placed of not bringing
H. B.'s family into view, I am unable to mention the
principal details. May it suffice to say that I recognised
H. B. I may also add that the description of the
hair, eyes, beard, stature were exactly and unhesitatingly
given.

"I may also mention one important detail : M. Meurice
described the vision he saw as being seated in an arm-
chair with a blue plaid shawl — with a long fringe —
wrapped about his legs. I did not recognise the chair —
though I well remember the chair in which H. B. passed
the last six years of his life — but the shawl was absolutely
correctly described. This is a detail which, I affirm,
M. Meurice could not possibly have known ; and I
consider it highly improbable that fraud could have
found it out.

" So much for the first appearance of this personifica-
tion.

*'The visions continued. M. Meurice saw H. B. at
difi^erent periods of his existence, at times infirm, at
other times younger and standing upright. When he
appeared young, he wore his beard in a certain fashion ;
when he appeared aged, he wore his beard differently ;
these details were correct.

" The vision at first did not speak, and simply looked
kindly at him, said M. Meurice.

" The hallucination used to build itself up in the follow-
ing manner : the medium saw a bluish cloud floating
about near a particular armchair in his bedroom ; the
cloud or shadow remained ill defined, * as though several
veils were being successively removed ' ; and only one
feature at a time — at a vision — seemed to be distinctly

T

290 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

shown, e.g. at one time, the eyes were well shown, the
rest of the vision being very indistinct ; at another time,
the nose was the prominent feature, or the mouth, the
hair or the beard, etc. ; as though the personification
wished to impress one thing at a time upon the medium's
perception,

"Finally on the 6th October 1903, in a short journey
which M. Meurice made one day to Arcachon, H. B.
appeared to him in broad daylight, in an avenue of the
forest through which the medium was driving,

" M. Meurice saw, on the roadway a short distance
ahead, a person walking very slowly and pecuHarly : ' he
limped as though the right leg was shorter than the left.'
He was a stout man with a round, clean-shaven face.
He had a peculiar mark near one of his eyes. He was
wearing a tall straw hat, a high collar, the ends rising and
meeting in points under the chin, a yellowish walking-
stick, the handle of which was made of ivory and fastened
to the stick by a silver band ; the personage was reading
a newspaper, the title of which was in Gothic lettering
' like the Matin.'' He was wearing a thick gold chain
and trinkets. M. Meurice thought he was looking
upon a real individual, and it was not until the carriage
had driven past, and my friend saw the supposed man
suddenly disappear, leaving but a ' whitish blur on the
ground,' that he recognised H. B. and the hallucinatory
character of his perception.

" I saw M. Meurice about five hours after he had had
this vision, when he gave me the above details ; I recog-
nised the following as being correct : —

" I. The walk,

"2. A peculiar mark near one of the eyes.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 291

^' 3. The newspaper; H. B. took in the Temps^ the title
of which is in Gothic lettering like the Matin.

" 4. The walking-stick, every detail being exact.

'* 5. The description of the collar was correct.

" 6. H. B. used to wear a straw hat.

"7. * A stout man with a round, clean-shaven face '
applies to H. B. before his infirmity made an invalid of
him.

''The watch-chain and trinkets were imaginary.

" A few remarks about details i and 2 : H. B. had twice
broken his right leg ; the right leg was, as a result of
these two accidents, shorter than the left leg. He had
therefore a very peculiar and characteristic walk. When
M. Meurice was relating the above vision to me, he
imitated the walk to perfection. Let it be remembered
that H. B. had not walked a step for six years previous
to his death ; when he was attacked by paralysis,
M. Meurice was but fourteen years of age, and was not
then living in Bordeaux.

"2. H. B. had a small and peculiar skin mark
near his left eye. Now, when M. Meurice related his
vision, I told him that he had not localised this mark
accurately enough. Thereupon, raps resounded simul-
taneously on his chair, on the floor, and on a table
standing a foot away from M. Meurice and myself ;
while these raps were resounding M. Meurice said he
saw H. B., and remarked that he was pointing to the
sign in question. M. Meurice then correctly localised
the mark.

" Further, I told M. Meurice that he had made a mis-
take when speaking of a gold watch-chain and trinkets.
The next vision my friend had of H. B., the latter

292 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

showed himself with a black silk ribbon attached to his
watch ; this, I recognised as correct. H. B. always wore
a black silk ribbon for a watch-chain.^

"In subsequent visions, H. B. showed the medium
successively certain correct details in his costume,
notably : —

*' 1. Cravats, dark blue with white spots.

" 2. Shoes of a peculiar make, without heels and with
elastic sides.

" 3. White stockings.

" M. Meurice tells me he feels that H. B. very often
tries to make himself visible to him ; when he fails to do
so, he hears him say impatiently : * Thut ! thut ! thut ! '
— a curious coincidence, for this was a most characteristic
habit of H. B.'s when impatient.

" From that time the personification H. B. has con-
tinued to mingle actively in our medium's life. His
intervention is manifested daily. It would be impossible
to give a full account of this personification's manifesta-
tions ; I will simply confine myself to indicating the
principal. It is to be pointed out, first of all, that
H. B. appears literally to 'haunt' M. Meurice's house,
especially the room above the latter's bedroom."

" The phenomena are of several kinds : —

" A. Sonorous phenomena.

1 M. Meurice was aware of the fact that H. B. had bequeathed many
thhigs to Dr. Maxwell. He knew, for example, that the latter wears a watch
which was given him by H. B. And as Dr. Maxwell also wears, attached
to his watch, a gold chain and trinkets, normal mental activity might here
have been at work. — Note by the Translator.

2 M. Meurice's house bore the reputation of being haunted before he took
it. He was unaware of this, until the neighbours told him of it some months
after he was settled in the house. — Note by the Translator.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 293

" I. Footsteps.

" («) A loud, quick, decided footstep, which M.
Meurice attributes to the personification
Chappe.
" (b) An unequal step, as though one leg rested
more heavily than the other ; the imitation
which M. Meurice made before me of this
step recalled to my mind H. B.'s step.
" (c) A slow step as of a person who dragged his
feet along : a movement attributed by M.
Meurice to, and which I recognised as charac-
teristic of, one of my deceased friends.^
" (d) A quick, light step, like the step of a big bird.
" These footsteps are heard in the corridor of
the second story of the house ; a story which is not
inhabited. Then the door of a bedroom, immediately
above M. Meurice's bedroom, seems to open and the
footsteps resound in the room. M. Meurice has often
got up — these noises occur at about two o'clock in the
early morning — but he has never seen anything or any
one.

" The same noises are also heard in M. Meurice's own
bedroom.

*' 2. The opening of doors and windows.
" Before hearing footsteps in the bedroom on the second
floor, M. Meurice hears the door of that room open.
The noise of the opening of the door is always preceded
by a noise similar to that made by a hand searching in
the dark for the door handle.

" M. Meurice hears the same sounds on his bedroom
door. There are three doors to M. Meurice's bedroom :

1 See page i6o.

294 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

one leads into a dressing-room, one into a clothes-room,
the third into a study ; it is at this third door that
the above-mentioned phenomena occur.

" Sometimes M. Meurice hears the window of his
own bedroom, as well as that of the room upstairs,
open and shut. He has got up repeatedly, and gone
upstairs to see what was happening, but has always found
the door closed, which he fancied he had heard being
opened. Whenever, on returning to his bedroom, he
left the door of the room upstairs open, the noise of
footsteps would begin again as soon as he had left, but
without the sound of the opening and shutting of the
bedroom door.

"3. Noises as of furniture being moved about. The
medium hears the chairs and tables of the room above
him move about ; his faculties of observation are well
developed, and he believes he recognises : —

" (c?) Accompanying the noise of the displacement of

chairs and tables, Chappe's footstep.
" (J)) H. B.'s footsteps, on the contrary, are accom-
panied by the noise a heavy person might
make when sitting on a bed. The medium
hears the mattress creaking.
" (c) Lastly, he hears a noise similar to what would
be produced by a person lying back in an
armchair.
"4. Noises of material objects other than furniture :
these noises are like : —

" (rt) A bag of corn or nuts emptied on to the floor

of the bedroom upstairs.
" (/>) Something hard striking the floor : these sounds
are given rhythmically upon request.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 295

" (c) Wings beating the air. M. Meurice compares
these sounds to the flapping of the wings of
a turkey.
" (<^) The rubbing of paper.

" 5. Diverse human noises : —
''{a) Sighs.
" {i?) Heavy breathing.

"Are these sonorous phenomena subjective ? I have
never been in the house at the hour, when these
sounds are said to be heard ; and the noises I have
heard from time to time are not sufficiently pronounced
for me to be able to form any conclusion. I have assured
myself that no water-pipes exist in the upper stories of
the house ; the latter is isolated, but any loud noises
made in a neighbouring house can be heard in M.
Meurice's house.

" No one sleeps in the second story. A domestic, who
occupies a room on the same floor as M. Meurice, has
heard the noise of footsteps, and has often got up out
of bed and gone upstairs to see who was moving about.
Never finding any one, the domestic attributes these
sounds to rats : an insufficient explanation. Moreover,
a close examination of the house, repeated on several
occasions, has revealed to me no signs of rats.

"A sister of M. Meurice's frequently pays him visits;
she then occupies a room on the same floor as her brother.
On three different occasions she has been awakened out
of sleep by sounds of footsteps, and a fumbling noise on
the door of her room, as though some one were feeling
for the handle. She has got up, gone into her brother's
room, thinking it was he, searched about the house, but
has never seen anything which could explain the noises,

296 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

neither has she heard the noises while thus moving
about. ^

^ Among Dr. Maxwell's notes is the following account, written to Professor
Richet, of a seance at which the doctor was present; and of some subsequent
phenomena which he did 7iot witness, but which the reader may consider
interesting, nevertheless : —

19th March 1904. — 'Yesterday afternoon I obtained some automatic
writing with our medium. Chappe and H. B. were said to be communi-
cating, and giving me their views about the war. We then used the com-
modious Chappe telephone — my stylograph on this occasion. The raps
were excellent. The weather was good, fairly cold, but diy. When the
last word of a message was being spelt out, Meurice suddenly threw away
the pen and broke up the seance, without going through the usual formalities
of good-bye. He rose up from his seat, complained of feeling dizzy, and
fainted. He quickly came to, however, and when I left him he appeared quite
well again. But soon after I had left the house, he went into his sister's room,
and again fainted.

' Now, I had often told him not to break off the communications so
abruptly. I think the fatigue he sometimes experiences after phenomena —
fatigue often out of all proportion with them — is due to his brusquerie. On
this occasion I am sure there was some link between him and the table on
which the rapping occurred. Unfortunately, friendship mastered science, and
I rose up instantly to look after my friend, without stopping to ascertain
if there were any trace of exteriorised sensibility in the table. It is very pro-
bable that such was the case, because I repeatedly assured myself, during the
course of the seance, that there was absolutely no sensibility whatever in the
hand which was holding the stylograph — the rapping implement.

' During the seance Chappe had dictated that his medium was going to
give "displacements of objects," and he bade him take heed thereof.
M. Meurice's house is, this week, filled with visitors — his sister and her
children among others. For want of room, he has taken his young nephew,
a child of seven years old, into his room to sleep with him. Now, last night
he was awakened towards midnight by his bed moving about. His sister,
sleeping in the next room, also heard these noises ; thinking her brother
was ill, she got up and went into his room. She saw a curious sight: the
bed was gliding, of its own accord, towards the window ! She sat down on
a sofa and watched ; the room was lighted up by the light of one candle.
The bed moved up to a table near the window, i.e. a distance of three feet ;
the carpet was not disturbed. The bed returned slowly to its former position.
The child did not awaken. The sister is not aware of her brother's powers ;
if she were told, she would probably be much distressed, as she puts all such
phenomena a priori down to charlatanry or to superstition. She was alarmed

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 297

" She has also heard the flapping of birds' wings, in
the daytime, in different parts of the house.

"5. Phenomena of touch.

" M. Meurice sometimes feels a hand gently stroke
him on the head. On one occasion, when he was suff"ering
from a violent headache, he felt a hand move about on
his head and forehead ; the pain went away, and he fell
asleep.

*' C. Visual phenomena.

" Sonorous and tactile phenomena nearly always precede
an apparition, which is generally that of H. B., either
alone or with the Chappe personification.

" The following are a few examples of the visions
relating to H. B. : —

" I. On the 31st October 1903 M. Meurice returned
home from a visit to the neighbouring village —
Arcachon, the same village, near which H. B. had ap-
peared to him (p. 290). When he entered his bedroom,
he perceived H. B. seated in a chair, holding on his arm
a mortuary wreath made of black beads.

" On the morrow — All Souls' Day — M. Meurice related
this vision to me. I was surprised — but concealed my
surprise ; for, as a matter of fact, I did not understand
what a wreath of black beads could mean. At certain
epochs I am in the habit of laying a wreath on H. B.'s
tomb, but it is always composed of what were his
favourite flowers. M. Meurice began to write auto-
matically ; he wrote : ' Bring me what you are in the

at the manifestation, ascribed the movements to "ghosts," and firmly believes
that the house is haunted.' (This sister does not live in Bordeaux, and has
never been told of the reputation the house enjoyed before her brother took
possession of it.)

298 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

habit of bringing me ; the other wreath was for T.
Bring him one too, for his family have almost forgotten
him.' (I understood T. to be the initial letter of a great
friend of H. B.'s.) My surprise did not diminish,
because I know for a fact that T.'s family cherish his
memory profoundly.

"However, following my usual custom, I treated the
personification H. B. as he desired to be treated and
executed his commission. I then made the following
discovery : T. is buried in a vault over which lies
a sort of platform. The vault belongs to his own
family and the family of a near relation. There were
fresh flowers on the side of the vault belonging to his
relations ; there were none on the side reserved for his
family.

" I believe this circumstance, as well as the friendship
which existed between H. B. and T., was unknown to
M. Meurice ; but I am obliged to admit that my belief
rests upon no proof.

" Let me add, in order to finish at once with the T.
incident, that, on the eve of my visit to T.'s tomb, I
had asked M. Meurice to give me the Christian and
surnames of the person about whom H. B. was supposed
to be talking. The surname was given ; a curious
mistake was made before the Christian name was correctly
given : the name of T.'s son was given, and then came
T.'s own name. These indications were obtained in
broad daylight, by means of raps without direct contact.
The raps resounded upon a table on which I had placed
a shawl, one corner of which was held by M. Meurice.

" 2. A few days afterwards a seance was held in M.
Meurice's bedroom. A portable cabinet had been used.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 299

which M. Meurlce had not taken the trouble to remove
before going to bed. During the night he was awakened
by taps on the head ; he heard diverse noises, and saw
the door of the cabinet open. H. B. appeared, lean-
ing on two of the ' fairies ' ; the two other ' fairies '
followed. These personages presented the appearance
of living people, said M. Meurice the next day when
describing the vision to me. They rolled an armchair
into the middle of the room ; H. B. sat down in it ;
the fairies placed a shawl over his knees, and two of them
sat down on the arms of his chair ; the other two sat
down on chairs. H. B. spoke about my health, and
then bade M. Meurice tell me that I would be able
to find all necessary documents on the history of
religions in my cousin Y.'s library. The Christian
names were correctly given, the surname approximately;
but the approximation was such (the initial letter of the
name being the only incorrect one) that I had no difficulty
in recognising the name.

" It is exact that my cousin Y. possesses documents on
the history of religions. M. Meurice knew that the
question interested me ; but it is extremely improbable,
that he should have known of the existence of my cousin
Y., who lives in the strictest seclusion ; it is still more
improbable, that he should have known the contents of
his library. I cannot, however, affirm these two points,
but I can at least affirm that M. Meurice does not know
my cousin Y.

" The personification H. B. shows a spirit of fatherly
protection towards M. Meurice ; for example : —

" The medium was once out driving ; a rather serious
accident happened, in which his carriage was caught

300 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

between a cart and a tram ; the coachman was thrown
from his seat and wounded. As the tram struck the
carriage, M. Meurice felt himself seized by the arms,
and carried out of the carriage on to the footpath by
H. B.^

" The air of protection which this personification
assumes is never absent ; it is difficult, M. Meurice says,
to convey an idea of the strange, fantastic impression

^ The reader may care to see Dr. Maxwell's detailed report to Professor
Richet of the above incident : —

' On Sunday morning Meurice was out driving. A short distance from
Bordeaux his carriage collided with a milk-cart ; the shafts of the latter
crashed through one of the carriage windows. At the same time an electric
tram, unable to pull up in time, struck the carriage in the rear. The coach-
man was thrown from his seat on to the ground, where he lay unconscious.
He was wounded near the left eye, . . . his face was covered with blood.

' At the moment the collision with the tram took place, Meurice quickly
opened the carriage door with the natural intention of jumping out ; but he
felt himself suddenly lifted up and carried on to the footpath, a distance of ten
feet. He saw no one.

'He probably jumped ot his own accord, and the sensation he experienced
was but the symbolical expression of the solicitude the personifications show
for him. The protector was supposed to be H. B.

'Now, on Saturday afternoon, the eve of the day on which the above
accident occurred, I had a seance with my friend. We tried for luminous
phenomena, but the experiment was null. Towards the close of the seance,
Meurice said he saw the face of a dead man, with a wound on the left
temple, the face was covered with blood. I asked who it was, and received
by raps without contact : " Suicide, victime d'amour, Gaston " ; the raps
refused to give the surname. The aspect of the coachman's face after the
accident the next morning somewhat recalls the aspect of the vision ; if we
accept this, there is a curious mixture of true and false, the false showing
forth when our personal activity intervenes in order to question : a fact which
1 have often observed.

' The accident occurred between ten and a quarter past ten o'clock. My
friend's youngest sister — a young girl of twenty — is paying him a visit this
week. Now, this Sunday morning she went into the kitchen at ten o'clock,
looking very distressed, and said to the servants that she felt sure an accident
had happened to her brother. The sister's and servants' versions concorded
absolutely when questioned a few hours later on this coincidence.'

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 301

which he feels, in presence of the frequent intervention
of H. B., and other personifications.

" This impression is the less easily understood, in so
much as M. Meurice is not a spiritualist, and has received
a scientific education. He refuses to accept the explana-
tions which the personifications offer of themselves : they
claim to be human beings who have once lived on earth.
Up to the present they have never pretended to give us
any information touching the life beyond the tomb ; the
indications they have given rather tend to direct our
experiments, and to try to formulate premonitions.
H. B, seems to have given himself the task, chiefly,
of establishing his identity ; this desire appears to be
his leading — I scarcely dare to say generating — idea.
And we are obliged to admit that from this point of
view he has given some curious details. These facts con-
stitute the intellectual phenomena, which are the dominant
ones in the H. B. personification, although raps and
movements without contact are also said to emanate from
him sometimes.

"I have given some examples of psycho-sensorial
messages in the visions which I have described. These
are far from being the most interesting. H. B.
manifests also by automatic writing, and has given some
messages of a highly interesting character in this manner.
I cite the following as being the most characteristic : —

" On the 27th of November 1903, towards the close of
a seance, I mentally asked H, B. where I happened to be,
when he was laid up with a certain serious illness. The
medium wrote : ' You were a young magistrate at Blaye,
near Bordeaux.' M. Meurice knows what my career
has been, but it is extremely improbable, he should have

302 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

known about the illness — much less the time of the
illness — of which I was thinking. At all events, the
reply given to my mental question was correct. Neither
the conversation nor previous facts could have given
the slightest clue to my question. On another occasion,
automatic writing made an extremely characteristic
allusion to one of H. B.'s most inveterate habits : a glass
of brandy and water every afternoon at half-past five,
punctually.^

" Finally, on the occasion of the death of the last
surviving member of his family, H. B. on the 5th of
October 1904 wrote: 'Poor L,, no one is left now.
It is a consolation for you to feel me near you. . . . Very
often those left behind cannot see us.' {Pauvre L., i/ ne
reste plus personne maintenant^ cest line consolation pour
vous de me sentir pres de vous. Souvent les survivants ne
peuvent pas nous voir.)

" This message was interesting because the last relative
to die was not L. but C. L. died before C. ; but L. had
been H. B.'s favourite brother. It is quite correct that
no one was left of H. B.'s generation after C.'s death."

" At this same seance, H. B. mentioned a very private

1 The following is Dr. Maxwell's detailed report of this incident as con-
tained in a letter to Professor Richet : —

* . . . There was nothing we might say but twaddle in the writing which
followed, e.g. expressions of pleasure on the part of H. B. in that he was able
to communicate with me, his long efforts to reach me, etc., when suddenly, at
5.30, without any rhyme or reason, so to say, our medium wrote (always
under the influence of the H. B. personification) : " Offer me some brandy
and water. . . ." Now, during fifty years H. B. had not been known to miss
taking a glass of brandy and water every afternoon at half-past five. He was
not in the habit of taking this concoction at other hours of the day; so that
the coincidence is, to say the least, striking and curious. . . .'

2 Neither L. nor C. have ever lived in Bordeaux. In fact H, B. was the
only member of his family to leave his native land.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 303

detail in connection with L. This fact, which raisons de
convenance prevent me from fully relating, defines the
nature of the intercourse which had existed between
H. B. and his brother L. The circumstances which
the writing recalled were known only to H, B. and a
few near relations.

" I am fully aware that the above details have no
demonstrative value, for I knew them all, and the
hypothesis of thought transmission can explain them
quite as well as the spirit hypothesis. Here is, however,
a case which is less easily explained : —

" One of my friends is related to a lady, who lives with
her husband in Paris. My friend told me that this
cousin of his had amused herself one day with table-
turning ; and he added that the table had followed her
without any one touching it. I had spoken of this
incident to M. Meurice, but without mentioning names.
The incident of the table following the novice the first
time she had tried table-turning was the only thing
mentioned.

" Quite recently, while pursuing my inquiry upon
mediums' eyes, H. B., through automatic writing, told
me that the afore-mentioned friend would be able to
give me some information on the subject ; the writing
then named his cousin, but called her by her maiden
name, giving the name correctly.

" Now two or three days afterwards, M. Meurice had
a vision or a dream — often he cannot tell whether it be
one or the other ; he saw an aged lady sitting before
a large table, on the top of which a doll's table was
standing ; two younger women were with her ; one of
these latter made the small doll's table turn round three

304 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

times without touching it. The room in which these
ladies were sitting was large, and M. Meurice thought it
was in a country-house. The curtains were of rose-
coloured velvet.

" The scene described was the one my friend had
related to me, but I pointed out to M, Meurice that one
detail at least was certainly incorrect : viz. the doll's
table. H. B. immediately wrote : ' He has not made
a mistake, it was the small table which moved, and
not the large one.' (// ne se trompe pas^ c" est h'len le
mouvement d'une petite table qui a eu lieu^ et non celui (Tune
grande.) I saw my friend the next day, and I related
this incident to him. He assured me it was quite a
mistake, that it was a large table, and not a doll's
table, which had moved. I saw him again a few days
later, when he told me he had made further inquiries
about the table-turning incident, and had found out that
it was indeed a doll's table placed upon the large table,
which had effected the movements in question.

" The vision was therefore exact on this point ; it was
also exact concerning the number and age of the persons
present, but the room in which the seance took place
was in Paris and not in the country ; the description of
the room was incorrect.

" In this case, automatic writing confirmed the details
seen hallucinatorily, or in dream ; these details were
most certainly unknown to M. Meurice as well as to
myself. I will add that even had I mentioned my
friend's name, which I can affirm I did not do, that
name would have been of no assistance to M. Meurice,
inasmuch as he does not know my friend, much less
his cousin in Paris.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 305

" This is the most precise case, in which M. Meurice
has given me correct details unknown to myself.

" If we examine in a general manner the character of
the H. B. personification, we are, perhaps, obliged to
admit that it presents a spiritistic appearance. This
appearance is all the more singular, in that it manifests
in a centre where the spiritistic hypothesis is looked
upon with disfavour. I am well aware of the fact, that
tendencies opposed to those of the normal personality
are often observed in secondary personalities.

*' Young girls of a most timid and reserved disposition,
normally, sometimes show obscene parasitic personalities,
under the influence of which they give utterance to the
most filthy language, and perform most indecent acts.
The processes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
are most instructive from this point of view, especially
those of Loudun and Louviers. It is not surprising,
therefore, to see personifications calling themselves
spirits emerge in a non-spiritistic centre ; it is probably
a phenomenon comparable to that of the secondary
personalities just spoken of. A different synthesis of
psychological elements is formed, which follows an
opposite bent to the one normally followed. It is as
though the poles were changed, and a secondary person-
ality reveals itself as the very reverse of the first
personaHty.

'* The interesting point to seek for, however, is not the
genesis of the personification, for there are so many
hypotheses which might explain it, but to determine
which explanation concerning the personification best
suits the particular circumstances.

*' My observations upon the H. B. personification — the

3o6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

most thorough I have so far been able to make — do not
permit me to form a definite conclusion ; at the same
time, they do not tend to make me look favourably
upon the spirit hypothesis. If we resume the details
given by H. B, : —

*' A. About himself, his person, we find :

" I. 2. Two ways of wearing his beard.

" 3. A peculiar mark near the eye.

"4. 5. A very peculiar walk : right leg shorter

than the left.
" 6. The hair was fairly well described.
" 7. The eyes were not well described.

'^ B. Details about his clothes and habits :
" 8. An unusual shape of slipper.
" 9. The shape and colour of his cravats.
'* 10. His walking-stick.
"II. The manner in which he passed the last six

years of his life in an armchair.
" 12. The shawl which habitually covered his legs.
*' 13. His habit of taking a glass of brandy and

water every afternoon at 5.30.
'* 14. His allusions to his brother L. and to his

death.
"15. A gold chain and pendants which he never

possessed : followed, however, by the

rectification of the error.
"16. The detail of the l^emps.

" That is to say : two inexact, two doubtful, and
twelve accurate details.

"It may be of interest to draw attention to the process

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 307

employed by this personification to prove his identity ;
it is worthy of some attention, because it touches on
precise details. Those particular signs which are of
capital importance in the identification of persons, we
find in details i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14, and it would be
most unjust to refuse to recognise in these indications
at least an appearance of volition and intelligence,

" The character of volition has been decidedly indicated.
The H. B. personification began to manifest itself by
giving details concerning his physical appearance and
his habits. When M. Meurice saw H. B., he frequently
perceived the apparition very indistinctly, with the excep-
tion of the particular point which the personification
appeared to be desirous of impressing upon him ; this
occurred particularly with details i, 2, 4, 5, 9, and for
the rectification of the watch-chain incident — 15.

" The character of intelligence has not been less marked
than the character of volition. The personification gives
the impression of having deliberately chosen the signs,
by which he desired to prove his identity. Everybody
knows how difficult it is to recognise such or such a
person by the mere description of features ; definite
details and peculiar marks are, on the contrary, of the
greatest value for purposes of identification : and these
are precisely the details which H. B. seems to have
chosen ; these are the kind of details he seems to have
shown with the greatest persistence.

"Such facts as these plead in favour of the spirit
hypothesis ; it would be unfair to deny it.

" In the first place, there are some inaccuracies, e.g. 15.
Can we attribute this to the iconogenical activity of the
medium.? This is the theory which Dr. Hodgson has

3o8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

so finely developed, and the arguments he appeals to
are very serious. The sensorial or motor message is due
either to the medium himself, or to an intelligence
distinct from that of the medium, or to the combined
action of the two intelligences. Notwithstanding Dr.
Hodgson's weighty arguments, this explanation can only
be considered, at present, as a working hypothesis. It
is rather difficult to understand why an extraneous in-
telligence could give twelve accurate details, and make a
mistake in two or three other important details ; it is still
more difficult to understand, if the identity in question be
present, why he should commit such mistakes ; and it
seems to me that the personal action of the medium
explains these errors even less satisfactorily.

" Nevertheless, we must admit that even if we accept
the hypothesis of the personal action of the medium
troubling the extrinsical action of a foreign intelligence,
this simultaneous blending of true and false details is
little made to bring about a conviction of the inter-
vention of an active intelligence, other than that of the
medium.

" Finally, even in admitting as proven the intervention
of an intelligence non-human, nothing permits us to
affirm that it is really the person in question who is
manifesting and not an impersonation. This distinction
has been well put forward by theologians, though the
rules they give for the discernment of spirits appear to
us to be most puerile.

" To sum up, the case of H. B. has an appearance which
is, frankly speaking, spiritistic ; but it is not possible to
consider as certain, or even as probable, the pretensions
manifested by this interesting personification."

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 309

SERIES B

A. RAPS

I propose gathering together, for the first part of
this series, a few interesting things scattered here and
there among the notes before me.

On one occasion Chappe dictated by means of raps
without contact — in broad daylight— that 760 copies of
a work of Dr. Maxwell's had been sold. Four days
later, in the same manner, he said that 958 copies of the
said work had been sold ; incorrect information as the
following proves : the day after the seance in which
Chappe had announced the sale of 958 copies, Dr.
Maxwell received a letter from the publisher of the
work in question telling him that 800 copies had left
him, including the press service.

"We had some good phenomena on Tuesday afternoon,"
writes Dr. Maxwell. '* I was talking to M. Meurice about
my bibliographical researches, and of the best plan to
adopt for the analytical indexes. A small mahogany table
was near us, one leg of the table was touching a rug on
which M. Meurice was sitting. Raps resounded on the
table ; Chappe's signal was given, followed by some
advice concerning the subject of our conversation. Tele-
kinetic phenomena were also forthcoming — the table
gliding towards us and then away from us according
to request, travelling a distance of from three to five
inches.

"Then I tried an experiment, one I have been wishing
to try for some time : I bade M. Meurice sit in an

3IO METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

armchair and lie perfectly still. I placed his arm at
about one foot from the table, and told him to fancy he
lifted his arm and struck the table, without, of course,
making the slightest movement.

" We obtained some excellent raps in this way. This
is a fine experiment, for it shows clearly the production
of raps by the will — the direct, conscious and personal
will.

'^We tried three series of experiments ; six raps in
each series were willed ; we received four raps in each,
that is to say, 66 per cent, of success. The raps were
loud, one was double. The medium nearly fainted after
this experiment, but came round quickly, though he
has not been well since.

" His sensations were : (i) absence of sensation in the
arm with which we were experimenting ; (2) a kind of
breeze issuing from his shoulder. After willing the
raps he was never sure of success, he did not feel the
wood had been touched. Sensibility appeared to be
exteriorised."

In another of Dr. Maxwell's letters we note the
following : —

" For our seance yesterday we obtained, as usual, a
quantity of raps through the lead-pencil. I succeeded in
provoking them upon myself. Sensation produced :
when M. Meurice put the pencil on bone I had a
sensation of a slight electric current ; it produced no
contractions in the muscles traversed ; the sensation was
at its maximum on bone, probably because of the greater
conductibility offered by solids to vibration.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 311

" I have tried the raps upon several substances with the
following result : —

the finger : good.

wood : very good, maximum.

ivory : good.

iron : bad.

" Sensibility appears to be exteriorised during the
production of raps through a pencil. Yesterday there
was sensibility at a distance of four centimetres from the
periphery of the hand, which was holding the pencil, when
the raps were forthcoming.

" I asked Chappe to indicate in one word why it
was easier to obtain raps with a lead-pencil. He
dictated the answer, ' Localisent.'

"Before we separated we received the following message
by raps without contact : ' Jeanne Bordes morte 7 octobre
1859 a St. Pierre Martinique, demeurant 37 rue St.
Jacques' I do not know of any Jeanne Bordes, though
a family of that name lives at St. Pierre, I have
questioned some people who have lived in that town,
but they do not recollect any Jeanne Bordes. . . ."

In another letter the doctor writes : —

" Towards four o'clock this afternoon, in broad day-
light, some very fine raps resounded on a table standing
thirteen feet away from M. Meurice and myself. It was
said to be H. B. who was rapping, M. Meurice
became nervous, and the experiment only lasted for five
minutes. It was magnificent as an example of raps at
a distance."

The following extracts are taken from Dr. X.'s notes: —
" On one occasion Professor Richet and I were speak-

312 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

ing about a relation of the professor's, A. R., who
was supposed to have communicated with him through
M. Meurice. The latter could not have overheard
our conversation, for the simple reason that he was
at least ten miles away from where we happened to be
at that moment. Five or six hours afterwards, when
Professor Richet was out walking with M. Meurice, raps
suddenly resounded on the latter's walking-stick, and
the following words were dictated : ' Suis avec vous!
(Who are you ?) ' A. R. Je ne vous ai jamais ahandonne.^
" In the course of the morning's conversation, the
remark had been passed that the persistency of this
personification's manifestations would be looked upon by
some as a sign of survival, and I had made use of the
words: ' I wonder if he — A. R. — has been near you lately.'

" The medium was aware of certain experiments I
had made with a sensitive at Nancy. He often heard
me discuss with Professor Richet and Dr. Maxwell, the
phenomena I witnessed there. One day, in presence
of Professor Richet and myself, Chappe dictated that
he followed me about sometimes, upon which I said :
' Were you with me in Nancy .? ' He replied (by
means of raps without contact) : ' Qui. D. s" attire des
ennuis en groupant autour de lui des influences inferieures.
Defiez-vous de la domestique. Fraude. II y a eu autre-
fois un fort medium^ Henri Dubuc^ a Nancy. S. nest pas
un medium a materialisations.^

" This communication was given in broad daylight, by
means of raps without any contact whatsoever. The
raps resounded on a table which was standing near,
but which was not touched, either directly or indirectly,

\

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 313

by the medium. From time to time Professor Richet
and I leant on the table, but not with a view to aiding
the phenomena — I mean to furnishing ' force.' Our
touching the table or not seemed to make no difference
to the rapping intelligence. The message was dictated
with precision and rapidity.

"It is to be noted, that M. Meurice held a decided
opinion concerning the experiments at Nancy ; he was
not at all inclined to admit their authenticity. The
group, at whose seances I had been permitted to be
present, know of no Henry Dubuc.

" While the preceding communication was being given,
one of the observers made the remark, sotto voce^ that
he had a headache, and wondered if Chappe could
suggest a remedy : immediately the somewhat laconic
reply, ' Dorme'z^ was rapped out."

The following message contains an incident of a
certain interest, if the reader will kindly compare it
with the efforts, related in Series C, page 359, to
obtain a particular name.

'* A letter had been received from Professor Richet,
in which reference had been made to a curious occur-
rence at Carqueiranne, very much like an orthodox
haunting. During lunch, I spoke about this to the
medium. As often happened when the conversation
turned on these grounds, raps mingled freely with our
conversation. Thereupon I asked who was rapping,
and received the reply that C. R. (Professor Richet's
grandfather) was present ; whereupon the following
conversation between this personification and myself
took place : —

314 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

" Question : Can you explain the haunting at Carquei-
ranne ?

" C. R. : Qui.

" Question : Who is it who haunts the place ?

" C. R. : Mere.

" Question : Whose mother ?

" C. R. : Grandmother Jacques.
Mere Charles.

'^ (Jacques is the name of the boy to whom the incident
in question occurred.)

" Question : What is her name ?

" C. R. : Eugenie.

" This name ' Eugenie ' is the one we had tried in vain
to obtain four months previously.-^ It was now given with-
out any hesitation whatsoever, by raps without contact.

" Following this word ' Eugenie,' the raps predicted
the death of one of my brothers in a month's time from
an automobile accident. The prediction, happily, re-
mains unfulfilled. When this message was received, I
did not know if my brother ever rode in motor cars ; and,
for several reasons, I did not consider it at all likely ;
but three weeks afterwards, I had a letter from him asking
me to procure him several catalogues, as he had the
intention of buying a motor car. My brother lives in
California. The medium knew I had relations in
California, but did not know about my brother, much
less his name."

In the following messages, the raps were obtained
with and without contact.

" I had been anxious about my youngest brother, and
had openly spoken of my anxiety, saying I had reason

1 See page 359.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 315

to fear that my brother and his tutor did not get on
well together. One evening, during dinner, Chappe
rapped out the signal intimating his presence ; the raps
resounded on the table close to where I was sitting,
and at a distance of about three feet from the medium.
Asked if he had anything to say, Chappe dictated : //
faut laisser le petit en repos loin de son tuteur. I wish to
draw attention to the last word, for it marks a curious
error. When speaking to the medium of my brother, I
always made use of the word tuteur^ whereas, in French,
I should have said precepteur. The two words have
quite a different meaning ; my brother was not with
a tuteur in the French sense of the word, but with a
precepteur.

" Now, a short time before, my brother had shown
symptoms of a cardiac affection, and was undergoing
a special treatment. Neither the medium nor Dr.
Maxwell knew of this ; they thought my brother was in
the best of health, as indeed he appeared to be.

" After the last communication had been received, I
asked Chappe if my brother's health was good. My
question was : Est-ce que sa sante est bonne ? The
answer came : Arythmie du cceur ; separez-le de son
tuteur.

" At the time, 1 myself did not know the precise
nature of the weakness. I simply knew that my brother
had had two attacks of spasms of the heart ; but, I
repeat, I had not mentioned this fact to any one. A
fortnight after receiving the foregoing communication,
I had a letter from the doctor charged to watch over
my brother, in which letter the term ' arythmie ' was
employed for the first time, in connection with him.

3i6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

" My family thought of sending my brother to the
Pyrenees for a few months' rest and change. I asked
Chappe if he could tell me what was contemplated ; he
replied : Peut-etre ferez-vous bien de garaer Raoul aupres
de vous ; dans deux mois^ Paris^ campagne^ Hyeres^ Iky
Arcachon ; all so many efforts, one would say, to read
my thoughts — but without success.

" A seance had been arranged for at which Dr.
Maxwell, Professor Richet and I were to be present.
Much had been expected from this seance, for there
were many signs of ample force. The raps were
certainly excellent, and, with a great show of dignity,
asked : Permettez-vous a un ami de (mentioning my
name) de venir ? Permission being given, it was an-
nounced that " Georges R. " wished to speak with me.

" I know of no Georges R. ; the medium, however, was
aware of the fact that R. is one of my family names.

" The raps (' Georges R.') continued : Votre pere
a eu un accident de voiture ; foie trh contusionne ; soaisr
chute ; {soir sa chute ?y

" No accident of any kind has happened to my father
either at the time of receiving the above message, or
since.

" The rapping ceased abruptly, when this last message
was given, and no further phenomena occurred at this
particular seance.

" At a short seance at which Dr. Maxwell and I were
present, the medium said he could see Chappe walk-
ing about the room with a lady on his arm ; the lady
was dressed in mourning. Raps accompanied the

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 317

medium's words and, the name of the lady in mourning
being asked for, the word ' Marguerite ' was dictated.
Asked why she was in mourning, the raps replied that
it was for identity's sake, because * Marguerite ' was in
mourning when she died. {Signe identite — en deuil quand
elk est morte.) Asked for the name of the person for
whom Marguerite was in mourning, when she died, the
raps replied : ' Katey.'

" Now, a favourite aunt of mine died a few years ago,
whose name was Marguerite. My mother died a few
weeks before my aunt ; consequently my aunt was in
mourning for my mother, when she died. My mother's
name was Kate, but my aunt always called her Katey.

'^ I can affirm never having spoken of these details
either to Dr. Maxwell or to the medium.

" During this seance it was Dr. Maxwell who spelt out
the alphabet."

I will give one more quotation from Dr. X.'s notes : —
" Chappe was rapping so noisily and abundantly one
morning that, in default of other phenomena being
forthcoming, I asked him if he would kindly tell me
what was man's occupation after death. My exact
question was : ^u'est-ce quon fait dans f Au dela ?
Very quickly and unhesitatingly the raps answered :
On est dans ravissement profond^ et occupe uniquement de
faire le bonheur de tous ceux qui sont chers et le souci
d'apporter des preuves d'une vie futureT

In the exposition of the few facts in this, as well as in
the other series, we are trying to throw every light in our
power upon the agency operating behind these messages.

3i8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

This necessitates personal details here and there which,
we hope, the reader will forgive. On every occasion,
unless the reverse has been stated, M. Meurice was
thoroughly wide-awake. It was often he who spelt out
the alphabet, especially when the observers had reason to
suspect a name — or the nature of the message to be given.
He always permitted a constant and careful scrutiny of
his every movement, when the raps were produced with
contact. When raps were forthcoming without contact,
they were given wherever requested, e.g. on a chair, the
floor, the centre of the table or under such or such an
observer's hand ; in these cases the vibration was easily
perceived. When the pencil was used, care was taken —
by holding M. Meurice's hand and the pencil — to make
sure of the fact that neither hand nor pencil stirred,
while the raps were being produced.

There can be no doubt whatever of the authenticity of
the raps, which gave the messages laid before the reader
in this chapter.

All things considered, the chances seem great that
these raps are not accidental, but significant of some
fact in the complex and obscure structure of human
personality — dare we say in the structure even of the
Cosmos ^

B. TELEKINETIC PHENOMENA

The following is Dr. Maxwell's compte rendu of some
telekinetic phenomena, which were forthcoming on the
25 th and 26th July 1903. These notes were written
immediately after the phenomena occurred.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 319

'■'■ Z'^thjidy 1903; 4.30 P.M.

" M. Meurice and I were working in a small study in
the former's house. The room is about eight feet
long by eight feet wide. On the NE. side is a
window ; SW. a door ; NW. a glass door. The
window was closed, and the shutters were half closed on
account of the excessive heat and glaring light. The
furniture consists of : a writing-table in the E. corner ;
a divan against the NE. wall ; a low chair in the
S, corner ; a rectangular table in front of the couch
or divan ; a small hexagonal table near the rectangular
table ; a gilt cane chair in front of the window ; a
wooden stool in the W. corner ; a chimney-piece in
the N. corner ; an armchair in front of the rectangular
table ; a small gilt chair was between the latter table and
the divan. It was drawn under the table.

a^^

0

CO

Door

^

armchair

A

OB

Taila

fffv'tina
Table

Window

GIa55
Z>oor

" M. Meurice and I had been writing (correcting
proof sheets) on the hexagonal table. M. Meurice was
sitting on the edge A of the divan, I was at B opposite
him, when raps were heard on the writing-table — with
which M. Meurice had no contact. I measured a
distance of two feet between him and the writing-table.

320 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

At the same time, raps in quantity, but of feeble tonality,
resounded on the hexagonal table.

" We removed our writing materials on to the rectangu-
lar table, for the sake of more room. The raps gradually
ceased ; they died out altogether on the writing-table and
began, though very feebly, to resound on the rectangular
table. We worked for an hour and then rested a while.
M. Meurice sat back on the couch, putting one of his
feet on the chair between the divan and the table. Raps
immediately resounded on the chair, I went and sat
down beside my friend, and observed that the raps
appeared to come from his foot ; I found that they were
synchronous with our movements ; they also responded
correctly to my mental and spoken request.

" I left the couch and sat on the armchair in front of
the rectangular table. M. Meurice drew his legs under
him and sat on the divan, tailor-fashion. We decided
to try to move the gilt chair standing between the divan
and the table. There was a space of fourteen inches
between the divan and the chair, I sat on the armchair.
M. Meurice brought his hands towards the chair, palms
facing the chair ; he kept his hands still at a distance of
seven to eight inches from the back of the chair; I stretched
out my arms above the table towards the chair. When I
contracted my muscles, the arms and hands extended, the
chair moved. The amplitude of the movement was very
small, scarcely a quarter of an inch, but the movement
was abrupt and decided. It was a jerk, which took place
shortly after the muscular contraction.

"This movement was reproduced three times under the
same conditions.

" Then M, Meurice and I changed places. I sat on the

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 321

couch in the same way as he had sat ; M. Meurice
made the same movements I had made. The chair
moved twice ; the amplitude of the movement was much
greater than with me ; the chair was displaced an inch
each time. After the second movement was produced,
M. Meurice said he felt tired ; he lifted his arms above
his head and stretched himself; that is to say, he pulled
himself upwards ; his feet did not go near the table.
While stretching himself, the chair suddenly — for the
third time — displaced itself a distance of an inch. The
latter movement coincided with the extension of the
back, at the moment when the muscles of the grooves
and lomho-sacre contracted.

" The direction of these movements was from the table
towards the couch ; the chair receded from the table,
whether M. Meurice or I sat on the couch.

" Seeing how easily these movements without contact
were being obtained, we went downstairs into the dining-
room with the object of trying to obtain some pheno-
mena, which M. Meurice had obtained when alone the
previous day ; namely, the attraction of wine-glasses.

" I took a liqueur-glass, and put it on the mantelpiece
in the dining-room. M. Meurice made some passes
around the glass, then put his two hands together
meeting them at the finger-tips ; he drew his hands
slowly away, the glass followed his hands by jerks.

" We then returned to the study. I sat down
on the divan and prepared to resume my writing.
M. Meurice was standing near the mantelpiece. In a
few minutes I heard him say he was attracting the chess-
men. I got up and watched carefully. His hands were
in the position described above in connection with the

X

322 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

liqueur-glass ; he drew his hands slowly backwards,
and the red king followed his hands ; this tiny piece
is about half an inch in height and a quarter of an inch
in diameter. The movement was slow and gliding.
M. Meurice tried to reproduce the phenomena but
failed. He said he was tired and would rest a while.
In a few minutes he renewed his efforts. I stood
close beside him ; again failure. After a few more
minutes of rest, he tried again — I watching him closely
all the while — and, this time, succeeded in attracting
the same piece — the red king. The piece followed
the direction of his fingers, as before, slowly and
smoothly.

" M- Meurice again complained of feeling tired, and
I urged him not to try for any more phenomena, but
to lie down and rest. I went to my writing once more,
but M. Meurice was restless, and told me he wanted to
try to move an empty beer-bottle, which was standing
on the mantelpiece.

" He took it from the mantelpiece and put it on
the wooden stool. He knelt down in front of the
stool, and made the same manoeuvres with his hands
as for the liqueur-glass and the chessman. I remained
sitting on the divan, a distance of nearly seven feet from
the stool. M. Meurice, after the above-mentioned
manoeuvres, i.e. passing his hands several times round
the bottle, joined his hands together at the finger-tips,
and drew them gently backwards as before. The bottle
moved four times, each time from two to three inches.

" M. Meurice then said he felt sea-sick ; and he was
obliged to lie down for a while. He soon rose up,
however, and said he wanted to make something else

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 323

move. He took a piece of sealing-wax, tried several
times, but failed to move it. Thereupon I persuaded
him to cease making further attempts."

" Phenomena of attraction similar to yesterday, occurred
this afternoon. We were in M. Meurice's bedroom. It
was four o'clock, the window was open, the shutters were
ajar ; the light was excellent.

"The mantelpiece is covered with plush. On one
corner there is a statuette in porcelain representing the
Thorn ; the child is seated on a chair, and is puUing
a thorn out of his foot ; the statuette is five inches
high. M. Meurice told me that he was going to
make this statuette move. I stood near him, with
one hand on his back ; I stooped down, and looked
fixedly and narrowly at the statuette during the whole
operation. M, Meurice proceeded exactly as in the
preceding experiments, and when his hands — joined
together at the finger-tips — were at a distance of six
inches from the statuette, the latter swayed, bent slowly
forward, and fell over. I afiirm most positively, that
there was no hair or thread or normal link of any
kind whatsoever between the statuette and the medium's
hands. I passed my hand all round the statuette, before
the movement, during the movement, and after the
movement ; I thus verified by touch, what my eyes
were witnessing.

" Now, after M. Meurice had made some passes with
his hands around the statuette (without touching it, be
it remembered), and when, after putting his hands
together at the finger-tips, he slowly withdrew them,
I heard a slight noise, like the rubbing of a hair on

324 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the statuette ; at the same time the latter swayed ; this
creaking sound did not continue, and only accompanied
the first movements of the statuette. Again I affirm,
that there was no hair or thread whatsoever connecting
the medium's hands with the statuette.

"After the production of this phenomenon, we decided
to have a dark seance, for the purpose of trying to
obtain luminous phenomena. I closed the shutters and
pulled down a dark blind, especially constructed for
dark seances. While I was doing this, M. Meurice
continued trying to attract various articles on the
chimney-piece. Seeing this I drew the dark blind
away again and let in more light, in order to be able
to see clearly. I took a stick of sealing-wax, broke
off a piece and put it on a small mirror, which
was lying on the mantelpiece. In this case M. Meurice
did not make any preliminary passes as with the
statuette, beer-bottle and liqueur-glass ; he simply
joined his hands together in front of the sealing-wax ;
the sealing-wax followed his hands several times, in
fact every backward movement drew the wax after the
hands ; he finally drew the sealing-wax to the edge of
the mantelpiece, when it fell to the floor.

" The seance which followed was unproductive. A few
raps were heard, but that was all. After the seance, we
lighted up the room, opened the window, and M. Meurice
again tried to move the sealing-wax. He succeeded with
great facihty, the sealing-wax following every movement
of his fingers.

" By sight and touch, I assured myself of the absence
of any link between the wax and M. Meurice's hands.
I solemnly affirm that no such link of any kind existed.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 325

"I desired to write a letter, and, thinking that the
phenomena were probably exhausted for the time being,
I begged M. Meurice to allow me to get off my letter.
I was in the act of writing, when he said he felt he
could move another article. I watched him : he took
up another statuette, which stands a foot high ; he put
this statuette on a small table which was near me ; he
kept his hands open, palms turned towards the object
in question. He moved his hands slowly backwards
and forwards, and I observed the statuette bend forward
when his hands receded, and bend backwards when his
hands approached it. His hands were never nearer than
ten inches to the object.

" M. Meurice then complained of feeling unwell, and
threw himself on his bed. His hands touched the head
of the bed, on the woodwork of which raps at once
resounded. Chappe gave his signal, and dictated :
' B. MENAGEZ.' Questioned as to what he meant, he
said to take care of the medium, and not to take
advantage of the power. We ceased experimenting,
therefore.

" I have a few remarks to make concerning the
above phenomena. When I held my friend's hands,
I obtained nothing. M, Meurice says he saw a
thread, or rather a sheath of filaments, pass from his
fingers on to the object of experimentation. As a rule,
he made passes over the object he wished to move, as
though he were putting a thread of some kind around
it. He did not always do this, e.g. if the object to
be moved were light and small, he made no passes
over it.

" This movement would be very suspicious, if observa-

326 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

tion were superficial ; but apart from the purely scientific
spirit in which M. Meurice views his own phenomena,
the severe control I exercised demonstrated the absence
of any material link whatever."

More Extracts from Dr. MaxzveU's Notes

" -i^rd June 1903.

" A movement without contact was forthcoming this
afternoon. I placed a table upside down upon a linen
sheet. M. Meurice and I put our hands on the sheet,
some distance away from the table. The latter turned
completely over ; the movement was performed slowly
and gently. It was at four o'clock, the sunlight was
streaming in through the open window.

" We also obtained the movement of a heavy wooden
stool with slight contact. M. Meurice and I were
sitting on a couch, the stool was near us ; abundant
raps were heard on the stool. M. Meurice took up a
piece of linen, put one end on the stool, putting a framed
picture on top of it to keep it in place ; he put the other
end on his knees. In a few minutes, the stool swayed
about and finally moved a distance of three inches away
from M. Meurice. I watched him well and can affirm
he moved neither hand nor foot during the production
of this phenomena.

" M. Meurice experienced much fatigue after this
movement. It occurred at half-past four ; the light, I
repeat, was excellent."

" iit/i June 1903.

"It appears that M. Meurice attracted several objects
— pieces of bread, forks, etc. — yesterday during lunch.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 327

But he could not reproduce the phenomena in my
presence. We had, however, raps and numerous slight
movements without contact — raps almost ad libitum.
Automatic writing followed, but contained nothing of
interest ; it was impossible to obtain replies to mental
questions : subjectivity.

"P.5. — I am adding a postscript to my letter from the
medium's house ; for we have just received some fine
phenomena. The raps were, as usual, very abundant ;
but we also received two fine series of paraklnetic
movements.

" I. I brought a small mahogany table up to the sofa
on which M. Meurlce had thrown himself. I sat down
beside him, taking a shawl which I threw over him
and the table. Instantly, raps resounded on the table.
M. Meurice could not possibly have touched the table
without my noticing it.

" The table swayed about, now on this side, now on
that ; and then dragged Itself towards me by jerks, first
one side, then the other. When I squeezed M. Meurlce's
hand or gave him a slight tap on the shoulder, there was
a synchronous movement in the table. The latter also
moved in response to request. Then it gently raised
itself up on the two feet which were nearest to me ; this
side lost contact with the floor and rose to a height of
four inches.

" 2. We were both carefully watching this Interesting
phenomenon, when I heard raps on another table which
was about a foot away from the sofa and two feet away
from the table with which we were experimenting.
This second table had no contact whatsoever either with
the sofa or with the shawl : it was Isolated. Hearing

328 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the raps, I looked at the table and saw it rise up, or to
be more correct, sway about — only three of its legs
touching the ground. M. Meurice had not noticed
this phenomenon ; when I drew his attention to it, he
became suddenly nervous, and complained of feeling
tired. I pointed out to him how much this sensation of
fatigue was subjective and out of all proportion with the
energy expended. But new or unexpected phenomena
always upset him ; he experiences a sort of anguish
blended with something like fear in presence of a new
phenomenon.

" These movements of the second table lasted for
several minutes ; they were synchronous with our own
movements and muscular contractions, but were also
forthcoming at request. We were operating in broad
daylight. Chappe informed us, by raps, that he was
the operator on this occasion."

" I \th July 1904.

" I was obliged to make an early call on our medium
this morning. Lucky visit ! for he was in a working
mood and gave two fine movements without contact.
We began by sitting at a table, where we received raps
by means of the lead-pencil ; the words : Put yourselves
against the daylight were rapped out. We did not
understand what this meant, and ceased experimenting.
We went downstairs and walked about in the garden for
a few minutes. When we went back to the study, we
resumed our seance. M. Meurice sat down on the
divan and I in front of him. Raps without contact
dictated : Lie down for a while, we want to try for a
■physical effect.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 329

" The raps directed that I was to lie down on the sofa
and M. Meurice was to take my place. We followed
these directions.

" M. Meurice said he felt 'queer'; that his hands
seemed to be full of hair, or rather of spider's web, and
he tried to rub the feeling away. I got up and took
down from the mantelpiece the statuette of St. John,
the history of which you know.^ He tried to attract it,
but without results. We waited, the spider's web sensa-
tion returned, and this time I prevented him from rubbing
it off; he drew his hands together over and then in front
of the statuette and — his fingers at a distance of five
inches from the object — attracted it to him. The
statuette moved two inches.

" M. Meurice felt ill after this movement, and was
obliged to lie down for a while. He soon got up, and
tried again. But I stopped him, fearing he might over-
tire himself; though the statuette did not move forward
this time, it swayed about."

" litk July 1904.

" On Thursday morning, M. Meurice again succeeded
in attracting the statuette of St. John. He told me he
felt the cobwebby sensation, which — in his case — coin-
cides with telekinetic phenomena ; he took the statuette

1 " Concerning the statuette : the medium was — two months previous to the
seance here spoken of — given the catalogue of a sale of antiquities to be held
at Bordeaux. When going to bed he took the catalogue to glance over it ;
but he says he was so sleepy, that he did not get any further than the first
page. In the night, he dreamt that he was to buy No. 256 in the catalogue,
which — he was told in his dream — was the Christ of whom he had seen the
vision a few months previously, when Madame Stephens was with us. (See
Series C, page 349.)

" When the medium awakened, he looked up No. 256, and found that it was
an ancient wooden statuette of St. John the Baptist/'— A^o/^ bj Dr. X.

330 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

in question and placed it on a table. He then pro-
ceeded as though he were putting something behind the
object, making several passes with his hands all round
it. As he was drawing his hands away from the statuette
— they had reached a distance of nine inches — I heard
something like the crackling of a hair or silken thread on
the wood of the statuette, and then the latter moved.

'* The excellent conditions of light under which the
experiment took place, the control of sight and touch
which I most carefully exercised, the proximity of the
statuette to my eyes, all this renders the absence of any
hair or thread most certain for me. This is the second
time I have heard this scraping sound.

" M. Meurice was extremely fatigued after the pro-
duction of this phenomenon, and fainted. On recovering
himself, he insisted on trying once more, and succeeded
in making the statuette sway about.

" The day following this experience, he attracted
several small articles — wine-glasses, bread, etc. — near his
reach on the luncheon-table. I was not present, however.

" You perceive how very suspicious the phenomena
sometimes appear to be. Nothing short of actual obser-
vation could demonstrate the absence of a connecting
link of some kind between the medium's hands and
the object in movement."

C. LUMINOUS PHENOMENA

By Dr. X.

" For about eighteen months. Dr. Maxwell has been
endeavouring to turn the phenomena in the direction of
luminosities or materialisations.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 331

" With that object in view, he has had a light portable
cabinet constructed. This fragile apparatus consists of
eight pieces of pinewood fitting into one another by-
means of hooks. When put together, there is just
enough space inside the cabinet to allow of the introduc-
tion of a small, straight-backed chair ; a person sitting
thereon, finds himself in contact with the back and sides
of the cabinet, and his knees against the door. A large
curtain of purple cloth has been made, which is thrown
over the cabinet, covering it completely. The curtain is
buttoned over the door.

" The luminous phenomena already obtained with this
medium and spoken of by Dr. Maxwell on pages 152-5,
were sufficient grounds for hoping that patience and
perseverance might, finally, obtain happy results capable
of being repeated.

" For more than a year nothing demonstratively
objective was forthcoming. In the darkness, one often
imagined one could see clouds of vapour moving about
near the cabinet ; but there was nothing to prove that
this appearance was anything more than an optical
illusion. On these occasions, the medium frequently
complained of a disagreeable sensation on his hands
and face, as though he were caught in a spider's web.
He has also said, that he perceived from time to time
an odour of phosphorus or ozone in the cabinet ; the
medium has been the only one of the experimenters to
notice this odour, so far.

" Whenever I have been present at these attempts,
I have observed that they were accompanied by complete
cessation of all other phenomena, such as visions, raps,
telekinesis. Until November 1904, this apparently

332

METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

negative result was about all that was obtained at these
dark seances.

" During the first week in November, the medium
being in good form, and the ' force ' abundant, it was
decided to devote a few days, which Professor Richet
was able to dispose of, to an effort to obtain luminous
phenomena.

" Three seances in all were held. There were present,
Professor Richet, Dr. Maxwell, M. Meurice, and myself.
The seances were held in a very small room on the top
floor of the medium's house.

" The following is a diagram showing the disposition of
the room in which the three seances, of which I am
giving the compte rendu, took place.

wincLoxu

M.

Cabinet '^

^S

'^alle yi

R.

Jhlh
A.

door

\

"The door, which was shut, leads into another room,
the two doors of which — leading into a corridor — were
locked during the experiment. The window and
shutters of this adjoining room were closed, and the
room darkened, so that no light therefrom could pene-
trate under the door of the seance-room.

" The seances were held between 5 and 6.30 o'clock in
the afternoon. Total darkness was obtained by closing
the outside shutters and the window, and by hanging a
large black curtain — kept for the purpose — across the

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 333

window. No ray of light was visible on the sides of the
window ; the position of the latter could be guessed at
during the seance — simply because we knew where it
was — but could not be perceived. The darkness was
profound. A candle and box of matches were placed on
table A. When the experimenters were seated, the
candle was blown out.

^^ Results. — Tuesday, ist November 1904. The four
experimenters were seated around the table (see
diagram) ; the medium (who is not marked on the
diagram, because he was in the cabinet whenever
phenomena were forthcoming) was seated between Dr.
Maxwell (M) and Professor Richet {R), with his back
to the cabinet : No results — nothing whatever — neither
raps nor anything else.

" The medium goes into the cabinet. After an interval
of a quarter of an hour, M and X think they see milky-
looking clouds floating about near the cabinet, but they
are unable to affirm the objectivity of this appearance.
At the close of the seance, feeble raps are heard on the
table ; the raps dictate that Professor Richet is to sit in
the cabinet on the following day."

Second Seance

" Wednesday, 2nd Noij ember 1904.

" Professor Richet sits in the cabinet. The medium
sits at the spot marked M on the diagram ; Dr.
Maxwell sits at R. After sitting in this way for a
quarter of an hour — during which time nothing occurred
— the medium asked to be allowed to go into the

234 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

cabinet. Professor Richet then sits at R, and Dr.
Maxwell at M. Almost immediately M and X see a
phosphorescent, milky-looking, amorphous light, of about
six inches in diameter in parts, floating about outside
the door of the cabinet. It was decidedly objective,
lasted for about one minute, and gradually disappeared.

" R did not see the light.

*' [From an experiment made on the following day, we
have all three reason to believe, that Professor Richet
did not see the luminosities at this seance because of
his position. Let it be borne in mind that X was in
direct line of vision with the door of the cabinet, and
that M was also favourably placed for observation.
These facts did not strike us until the seance was over,
and R's inability to see what M and X afiirmed were
objective lights was incomprehensible at the time
being.]

" When the medium took Professor Richet's place in
the cabinet, he said the latter appeared to him to be all
lighted up ; when Dr. Maxwell and I saw the light
outside the cabinet, the medium declared he was in utter
darkness. During the production of this phenomenon,
M. Meurice was heard to breathe heavily ; he said he did
not know why he felt obliged to do this ; he complained
of feeling suddenly very cold ; at the same time, a cold
perspiration broke out on his forehead. He also said
that he felt the need of stretching himself and yawning.

"An interval of ten minutes now passed. Then M
and X saw an amorphous luminosity gradually form in
front of the cabinet, and make slight movements in the
direction of the table at which the experimenters were
sitting. M, by the light of this luminosity, sees the

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 22s

curtain slowly open, and close again as the light
disappears,

" R sees nothing definite. He thinks he sees a cloud-
like substance, but is not sure of its objectivity (because
of his position ?).

" As in the case of the first luminosity, so for this
second one, M. Meurice declares that the cabinet is
lighted up within, becoming dark when M and Xsee the
light. He has the same sensations of cold. In addition,
he says he feels tired, and asks to be allowed to dis-
continue the seance.

" No odour of phosphorus was perceptible, although
the lights we observed had something of a phosphor-
escent appearance ; but I think it would be more
correct were I to compare what I saw on this occasion
with the Milky Way ; in fact, these luminosities pre-
sented an appearance almost exactly similar to that
presented by the Orion nebulas, when seen through the
telescope.

" The medium looked pale and tired, when we closed
the seance, but he quickly recovered his vitality, and
during dinner — scarcely an hour later — some fine tele-
kinetic movements of a heavy walnut dining-table were
forthcoming in, of course, full light. Seeing the table
move, apparently of its own accord, we joined hands
two feet above the table, and succeeded in making it
follow the direction our hands took : now an inch
to the right, now three inches to the left, etc. ; we had,
finally, a strong, rotatory movement of six inches. The
medium's knees and feet were under Professor Richet's
observation, while these movements were being
produced."

336 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

'Third Seance

" Thursday, "i^rd November 1904.

" For this seance, because of Professor Richet's inability
to see the lights, which were visible to M and X at the
preceding seance, the experimenters change their places,
and sit in the following manner : —

^ X.

CalineZ. ^

I

R.

M.

" Professor Richet goes into the cabinet at the medium's
request, the latter takes i^'s place at the table. After
an interval of ten minutes, the medium goes into the
cabinet and R takes his new place at the table.

'* Almost immediately, lights are seen moving about on
the door of the cabinet. R, M, and X all see these
lights. M does not see the first two lights, which R
and X mention seeing. He moves closer to R, and
then sees distinctly. R has the impression that a ray of
light from twelve to eighteen inches long, and varying
from one to three inches wide, is placed at the opening
in the curtains ; he thinks he sees the curtains held open,
so to say, by the light.

" The ray of light appears broader to Xthan to R and
M. X says he distinctly sees the curtains move, and
open ; he has the same impression as i?, namely that of
the light holding the curtains apart.

'* This luminous ray was shown six times, at intervals
of a few seconds only. Its duration varied from ten
seconds to a minute. In form, it was constantly

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 337

changing, though the long ray remained. R, M, and X
had the impression that the luminosity was forming
around the ray. A long, vertical streak of light was
shown first of all ; the succeeding lights appeared to be
built up around this ray, which always remained the centre
of luminosity ; i.e. the light, strong in the centre, died
away to right and left, leaving no distinct outline to
the luminosity which, besides being amorphous, was
extremely mobile, though in a sense, fairly stationary.
i?, iVf, and X saw slight differences in the shape of the
lights, a fact which was perhaps due to their relative
positions ; but all three agreed as to the vertical ray
and the general shape the luminosity appeared to be
assuming.

"From time to time, M. Meurice complained of an
oppressive, suffocating sensation, and said that he felt he
must open the curtains, for a few seconds. Whenever
he opened the curtains, no lights were visible. M and
Xtook hold, of his hands when he opened the curtains,
and closed the latter themselves, when M. Meurice said
he felt better.

" At this seance, as before, the medium prepared us
for each phenomenon, by announcing beforehand, that
his cabinet was suddenly illuminated, and as suddenly
darkened ; the darkness inside corresponded to a
luminosity outside the cabinet.

" The six lights above mentioned were very distinct,
and very luminous (phosphorescent).

"The phenomena ceased for a few minutes. M.
Meurice then asked to be allowed to change places with
X. This is done ; Xremains a quarter of an hour in the
cabinet, during which time M. Meurice says he sees an

Y

338 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

oval-shaped light, about three times the size of an egg,
floating about on the curtains of the cabinet. R and M
see nothing. The medium returns to the cabinet, and X
resumes his seat. Immediately^ large triangular-shaped
luminosities are seen by M and R outside the cabinet.
X has suddenly fallen asleep.

"Af and R then see very mobile, amorphous lights,
varying from three to nine inches in diameter, float-
ing about X's head for a few seconds ; their lumin-
osity is less great than that of the lights seen on the
curtains, but is sufficiently pronounced to light up ^'s
forehead.

"The phenomena again cease. X awakens. M.
Meurice asks Dr. Maxwell to change places with him.
The doctor remains in the cabinet for ten minutes : no
phenomena ; M. Meurice returns to the cabinet, and M
resumes his place at Professor Richet's left.

'' Very quickly, the same phenomena as before occur.
The luminous ray assumes a broad, oval-shaped appear-
ance ; it measures about ten or twelve inches by about
fifteen inches ; it advances a few inches towards the table,
and then disappears, to show itself, a few seconds later,
larger, rounder in shape, and more brilliant. M and X
think they can distinguish the outlines of a human face
in this luminosity, but R says it appears amorphous to
him.

" Shortly after this, Af and Jf see a faintly luminous ball
of about six inches in diameter, form outside the cabinet,
— on the curtain — approach and float over the table above
the experimenters' hands. R sees this also, but compares
it to a luminous fog. R cannot affirm the correctness of
his last perception.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 339

^' Thereupon the seance terminated.

" During the production of these phenomena, M.
Meurice complained of excessive cold ; we heard him
shivering, and his teeth chattering. He yawned fre-
quently, and stretched himself repeatedly ; he breathed
heavily, and constantly complained of feelings of oppres-
sion and sea-sickness.

" When the seance was over, he complained of intense
thirst and drank several glasses of water.

" The weather on these three days was very fine, dry,
and fresh.

" The conclusions arrived at by those who were present
at these three seances, are : —

" I. That the above-described luminosities were de-
cidedly objective.

" 2. That no oversight, no error of observation can
explain them."

The above compte rendu was drawn up by Professor
Richet, Dr. Maxwell and Dr. X. at the end of the
seances.

SERIES C

By Dr. X.

The reader will, perhaps, kindly forgive a few pro-
bably uninteresting but necessary details, before we
enter upon the last series of these psycho-physical
phenomena.

Many reasons, chiefly of a family nature, have rendered
a substitution of names imperative. In other respects,
and as far as the phenomena themselves are concerned,

340 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

this series, like the foregoing, adheres most strictly to
the facts as they occurred.

Early in 1903 a gentleman, whom we will call Mr.
Stephens, a man occupying a high official position in
Europe, wished to marry a young Swedish girl. Mr.
Stephens's parents having, it appears, made other matri-
monial arrangements for their son, were most strongly
opposed to his wishes. Mr. Stephens decided to follow
his own inclinations, and was quietly married to Miss
Marie H. in the beginning of the year 1903. He did
not inform his family of the step he had taken, trusting
to time and events for the strained relations between
himself and his people to disappear.

A short time after his marriage, he received a peremp-
tory call to a foreign country. It was impossible for his
wife to accompany him, for three excellent reasons :
I . Mr. Stephens was not supposed to have a wife. 2. The
spot he was ordered to is not a spot for a woman to visit
— not being as yet civilised in the European sense of the
word. 3. Mrs. Stephens had reason to believe she might
become a mother. Moreover, Mr. Stephens did not
anticipate a longer absence than that of six months.

Mr. and Mrs. Stephens had passed the interval
between their marriage and the former's departure for
abroad in Paris. They lived very quietly, and had
trusted their secret to no one. In the dilemma into
which this foreign mission plunged them, Mr. Stephens
decided to make a confidant of a particular friend, certain
as he was that his secret would be in safe custody. This
friend was Professor Richet.

Dr. X. writes : — " Mr. Stephens was anxious not to

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 341

leave his wife alone in Paris, during his absence, and
knowing that Professor Richet intended making a long
series of experiments with Dr. Maxwell at W., he
decided, for diverse reasons, to send his wife to the
same locality. Thus it came about that Mrs. Stephens
was invited by Professor Richet to join the investigating
circle, a circle which it had been intended should be
strictly limited to Dr. Maxwell, Professor Richet, the
medium [M. Meurice] and myself. No one, save
Professor Richet, knew of the foregoing details.

" When Mrs. Stephens arrived — her husband came with
her, but only remained a couple of days — we saw a tall,
slight, fair woman of twenty-two or twenty-three years
of age, — a quiet, gentle, refined-looking woman. As
she was, curiously enough, a spiritist, and even pos-
sessed ' intuitive ' faculties of a pretty marked character,
— she had had several veridical hallucinations, and occa-
sionally indulged in spectrum gazing with fair results —
her addition to the circle was looked upon by the other
three members as having been decided by Professor
Richet, because of her nascent psychical powers. No sus-
picion of her situation — of which even Mrs. Stephens her-
self was as yet uncertain — ever dawned across our minds.
She was an early riser, a good walker, and apparently
enjoyed the best of health. The most practical medical
eye could have detected nothing abnormal in her health.

" Very much had been expected from this particular
series of experiments ; but, for reasons which are beyond
our comprehension, comparatively little was received.
There was every evidence of abundant force, and the
medium was, at times, almost unnerved by our syste-
matic lack of success.

342 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

" Throughout the whole of this particular series, more
than ever did the agency manipulating the energy act
like an independent intelligence, giving striking evidence
of power when it cared to do so and, when not disposed
to communicate, shutting off all communication most
decidedly and completely."

We propose setting forth succinctly, but in detail, the
results, both mediocre and superior — and just as they
occurred — of these few weeks of experimentation, leaving
it to the reader to bestow an acute analysis upon them in
his own guise. It was only as the time allotted this series
drew to a close, that the phenomena took a personal turn,
and bore so directly, and so intimately, upon Mrs.
Stephens's life.

The notes which are quoted in this series by Dr. X.
are, without exception. Professor Richet's.

First Seance. Time 8 to \o.iop.m.

*' Before sitting down," continues Dr. X., " Dr.
Maxwell had placed on the table a small cardboard box,
in which were two amethyst crystal balls.

"The small table was six inches away from M.Meurice,
and three inches away from Professor Richet. Contact
had been purposely established between the two tables by
means of a small white cloth — which did not interfere
in any way with the control of eyesight. A bright,
electric light was burning.

'^Several visions were described ; they offered little
interest. Then the small table moved abruptly ; it
approached the seance table in jerks, covering, in this
manner, a distance of two and a half inches. It was veri-

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 343

fied that no contact whatever existed, save that with the
white cloth ; the latter was not touched by M. Meurice.
Then for nearly an hour there was complete cessation of
all phenomena, with the exception of perpetual rapping
without intelligence. Thinking nothing more would be
forthcoming, Dr. Maxwell and Professor Richet rose from
the table, and went out on to the balcony of the room in
which the seance was being held. Mrs. Stephens, the

small
table.

D^M.

Mrs.S.

ro:

£R.

Drx.

medium, and I remained at the table. I asked M. Meurice
how he proceeded when he wished to attract articles —
up to that moment I had not witnessed this interesting
phenomenon. He replied, * I have an odd sensation in
my fingers, and I do this ' — accompanying his words by
certain hand movements ; that is, he drew his hands
together in front of and quite close to the cardboard
box still lying on the table ; he withdrew his hands —
joined together at the finger-tips — very slowly, and,
when the tips of his fingers were at a distance of
six inches from the box, the latter began to move. It
moved slowly and smoothly, without any jerking what-

344 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

soever, exactly as though it were being dragged across
the table by a cord. I thought I perceived a tiny
ray of light ^something like a dewy spider's web
with the sunlight gleaming through it — connecting M,
Meurice's fingers with the box, but this was probably
an illusion, as there was nothing palpable to the touch,
I passed my hands around the box, and all over the
medium's hands and arms, but there was no thread of
any kind whatever. M. Meurice said he had not seen
the box move, though I observed he appeared to be
gazing fixedly at it during the operation, and though
the box travelled a distance of six inches.

" Without leaving my seat I called in Dr. Maxwell
and Professor Richet, and told them what had happened.
M. Meurice was asked to try again, while Professor
Richet put out some of the lights, thinking thus to help
the force, which might have been too severely tried by
its last efforts. I take the following extract from Pro-
fessor Richet's notes : —

" ' The same phenomenon was reproduced in my pre-
sence, but with less light — quite sufficient, however, to see
everything, and every movement distinctly. The box,
slowly and without any apparent jerking, followed the
medium's fingers. I saw the box slowly displace itself,
and drag itself over the plush-covered table, for a
distance of nearly five inches. There was absolutely
no contact of any kind whatsoever, either mediate or
immediate. A strong gastric attack, quickly over,
seized the medium after this experience.'^

^ This phenomenon maybe considered of such importance as to necessitate
Professor Richet's exact words being given ; I therefore append them : —
' Un autre phenomene d'attraction tres remarquable. Une petite boite en

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 345

" On resuming the seance the raps were asked, ' Who
is rapping ? '

" Reply : ' Antion.' ' Is it Antoine ? '

" Reply : ' Yes, Antoine Br.' We arrested the com-
munication at the letter r, understanding it to mean
Antoine B. of A Complex Case, p. 214. The raps then
predicted the death of Madame B.'s second husband to
take place in March 1904."

[This premonition was not realised. The gentleman
in question is in remarkably good health to-day,
April 1905 ; but, at that time, Professor Richet
was anxious about him. Dr. L. was utterly pro-
strated by the sudden death of his wife Madame B.
Neither Dr. Maxwell nor the medium knew that
Antoine B.'s widow had married a second time ; nor
were they aware of Professor Richet's anxiety concerning
Dr. L.'s health.^ — Note by the Translator^

"The communicating intelligence, purporting to be
Antoine B. , was then asked : ' What was the nature

carton carree de 0.02 de cote environ est attiree, d'abord en pleine lumiere
devant Dr. X. Le meme phenomene s'est reproduit devant moi avec
beaucoup molns de lumiere. ... La boite etait lentement et sans secousse,
pendant 2 a 4 secondes, attiree par les doigts du medium et je Tai vue se deplacer
ainsi lentement, en trainant sur la peluche jusqu'a 12 centimetres environ. II
n'y a absolument aucun contact, ni mediat ni direct. (Crise gastrique forte et
passagere du medium a la suite de cette experience.) '

^ ' Since the above was written, Dr. George L.'s son, Olivier, a youth ot
nineteen, has been killed in a railway accident (see p. 234). Notwithstanding
the errors, there is a certain interest in the fact that the rapping force seemed
to sense some near tragic occurrence to some member of the family. The raps
first of all gave the surname L. of the person destined to die shortly; it
was only after much hesitation that the name of George was given. The
raps at first refused to give the date, but, after much pressing, dictated March
1904.

' Professor Richet did not tell any one that Madame X. had already predicted
the early death "of one of the sons.'' ' — Note by Dr. X.

346 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

of Madame B.'s illness?' Reply: 'Ness, foie.' (The
doctors who attended Madame B. when she died have
not been able to agree as to what the malady was, though
they think it was probably of a tubercular nature.)

" We asked Antoine B. for another sign of identity,
and received the word ' Carlos.' (Professor Richet con-
siders it highly probable that every one present knew that
Antoine B. called him by that name.)

*' ' When the raps dictated the name of Antoine B., the
medium said he saw standing near me a young man of
about thirty years of age ; he had very soft blue eyes,
and a short pointed beard. As far as it goes, this applies
to my friend Antoine B.', says Professor Richet.

" This first seance gave some fair results. We were
now destined to pass several weeks without receiving
a single phenomenon worth mentioning. We cannot
account for this ; though Dr. Maxwell is inclined to
think, that the energy was spent in efforts made to obtain
psychic photographs. The weather was excellent, every
one was in good, even exuberant, health and spirits ;
the circle was very homogeneous ; no a •priori conditions
had been laid down. Great things had been promised,
but the great things were not forthcoming ; and the
' force ' did not deign to explain why, though it gave
occasional signs of being to the fore, and ready to work
if it cared to do so. For example, it would rap out as
many airs and rhythms as requested, but took refuge in
complete silence, or disorder, or pleaded fatigue, if asked
for telekinetic phenomena or intelligent messages. It
acted like a lazy child asked to accomplish a possible
but difficult task.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 347

" Photography was tried, but without success. On one
of these occasions, when M. Meurice was re-entering his
room after having sat for photography, he heard foot-
steps beside him, and had the vision of a form which
interposed itself between himself and the door, as though
desirous of preventing him from entering his room.
He heard the words : ' Pardon, je n'ai qu'un moment,
vous avez deja entendu parler de moi ; je suis Antoine.
Je viens voir mon fils.' . . . He then perceived the
form of an old man, clean-shaven save for short
whiskers ; he was wearing the crimson robe of a
magistrate. The hallucination quickly disappeared.

" No one, save Professor Richet, knew that this day was
the anniversary of the death of his maternal grandfather,
whose father's name happened to be Antoine. But we
were all aware that Professor Richet had received various
communications purporting to emanate from these two
ancestors of his. It was also known that his grandfather
had presided over the law-courts at Paris.

" On one occasion, we had all five made an excursion
into the country : and here I quote from Professor
Richet's notes : — ' Coming home^ — it was moonlight,
and still twilight — we got down from the carriage— a
private omnibus — to walk a while. Dr. Maxwell and
M. Meurice lagged behind, and Dr. X., Mrs. S., and I
got into the carriage again, before they had caught us up.
As she was stepping in, Mrs. S. told me she felt as
though a woman were running behind her, and were
helping her into the carriage ; seated, Mrs. S. continued
to perceive this vision ; it was wearing a hood on its

348 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

head, and a cross on its breast ; the vision bent its head
over Mrs. S.'s hand, pressing its teeth on it *' as though
to show she had died in agony, stabbed to death," said
Mrs. S. When Dr. Maxwell and M. Meurice rejoined
us, the former told me, in an undertone, that M. Meurice
had just had a vision of a woman running behind Mrs. S.;
the vision was wearing a hood on its head. M. Meurice
and Mrs. S. continued to see this vision for above five
minutes longer, when they both saw it disappear into a
clump of trees. M. Meurice and Mrs. S. communi-
cated their impressions to Dr. Maxwell and myself
respectively.

*' ' A few minutes afterwards, they both had another
simultaneous vision. Mrs. S. saw a man astride one of
the carriage-horses ; M. Meurice, with an identical de-
scription of dress, saw a man not seated on, but running
beside, the same horse holding the reins. He thought it
was Chappe. Then everything disappeared.

*' ' Neither visionary communicated their impressions
to the other.'

" Exception made of the attractions of the box and
table, the foregoing results will probably be considered
as demonstrative of nothing in particular. We were
now to receive something more interesting.

" Let it be said, en passant, that Mrs, Stephens never
once saw the medium alone. There had not been
the slightest break in her reserve. And all, save
Professor Richet and herself, continued to think she had
been invited by Professor Richet solely because of her
psychical powers. M. Meurice sometimes remarked,
seeking a reason for the inexplicable failure of the

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 349

experiments, that he believed the cause lay in a super-
abundance of power, that the psychic force was too
great, that Mrs. S. gave forth too much power, etc.

" Now, early one morning, three weeks after we had
begun this series, Mrs. Stephens remarked to Professor
Richet that [I again quote from Professor Richet's
notes] ' during the night she had been thinking a great
deal about the Christ, and had said to herself, if the
spirits of the deceased can appear to man, why not
the Christ ? And she said she had asked for a sign to
be given her that this could be, Mrs. Stephens had
scarcely pronounced these words, when Dr. Maxwell
came into the sitting-room and said : " I have just seen
M. Meurice, he had a vision while I was conversing with
him. He said he perceived the form of a man with
short hair and beard ; a halo of light behind him, a circle
of gold on his head ; he was dressed in white ; M. Meurice
says it was the Christ. With an imperious air, the form
showed him a thick yellow manuscript — a papyrus —
covered with writing. As M. Meurice was trying to
decipher the characters for me, the vision disappeared.
M. Meurice was suddenly exhausted, and had a fit of
weeping before recovering his normal condition."

" 'A few mornings afterwards the medium had another
vision. This time it was Chappe who came, it appears,
to tell him that it was not l/ie Christ whom he had seen,
but a Christ.'^

" I must pause a while. It seems that Mrs. Stephens
did not care about returning to Paris during her husband's
absence ; and — in the event of her hopes being well

1 See note, p. 329.

350 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

founded — had expressed to Professor Richet her great
desire of passing the rest of the year near Biarritz, a
place for which she had a great liking. She begged
Professor Richet to write for her to a house agent to
procure her a villa in that town. It seems also, that
Mrs. Stephens — though her manner had never betrayed
this — had taken a fancy to the medium and his family ;
one of his sisters is an experienced hospital nurse, and
Mrs. Stephens was wondering — in quiet conversation
with Professor Richet only — if it would be possible to
persuade her to come and live with her at Biarritz.
Upon this conversation Professor Richet obtained the
address of an agent, and wrote to him according to
Mrs. Stephens's wishes. He showed the letter to Mrs.
Stephens. The latter said [again I quote from Professor
Richet's notes] : ' Since I spoke to you about Biarritz,
Chappe has told me something. He wants me to go
to Bordeaux. Do not post that letter yet, let me wait
a little while ; if my intuition be correct, if the idea
of Bordeaux really came from the spirits, they are quite
capable of finding a way of indicating it to M. Meurice
and Dr. Maxwell. I do not wish to speak of it myself
to M. Meurice ; this must come from the spirits
themselves. . . .'

" [We are endeavouring to give a faithful account of
what actually occurred, and beg to be forgiven the
unscientific language, which is occasionally unavoidable,
if we are to convey a correct notion of the physiognomy
of the phenomena.]

" Now the morning (a Thursday) following the day on
which the above conversation had taken place, Mrs.
Stephens came to Professor Richet, and told him she had

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 351

passed a very strange and perturbed night. She said
that, towards eleven o'clock, she was suddenly awakened
by a sensation that some one was in her room ; she was
filled with fear. She turned on the light, but saw
nothing. She kept the light burning, but still felt
unaccountably frightened. She heard raps on the head
of her bed. Gradually her fear quieted down, and she
said she began to feel as though there were a host of
spirits in her room, and a Great Presence was among
them. ' And she imagined,' writes Professor Richet,
* that a voice spoke to her in these terms : " A powerful
spirit is here, be not afraid ; it is the child's guide ; your
child will be a boy ; he has a great destiny before him, he
will be a reformer. We counsel you not to force his
inclinations, to choose no career for him, but to let your-
self be guided by the child himself, when the time comes
to think of his education."

" ' Mrs. Stephens was still speaking of her night's
experience, when Dr. Maxwell came into the room, and
handed me,' continues Professor Richet, 'some verses
which, he said, had just been written by M. Meurice — a
kind of quasi-automatism — =in a state of semi-somnolence.
He could not understand what it meant, and simply
stated the fact without offering any comment on it.' "

Here are the verses. For the sake of brevity we
omit five of them, they are in the same strain as those
given. We believe the reader will prefer to see these
verses in the original : —

Quand un enfant vient au monde,
Vient au monde d'ici-bas,
II faut qu'un ange en reponde,
Et le suive pas a pas.

352 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Pas a pas il faut qu'il guide
La petite ame en chemin,
La petite ame timide,
Qu'il doit prendre par la main.

Et les anges se querellent
Autour des bebes naissants,
S'ils sont de ceux-lk qu'appellent
Vers la Clarte les Puissants.

Dans la foule qui I'assaille
La petite ame choisit ;
Elle est emue et tressaille,
Et la crainte la saisit.

II faut qu'autour de la mere,
De la mere qui I'attend,
Seuls les anges de lumiere
Guettent le petit enfant.

" During the course of the day, Professor Richet said to
Mrs. S. that it would perhaps be well if she spoke to the
medium about his sister ; but Mrs. Stephens answered :
' No. Wait a little longer. I would have spoken to
M. Meurice, had I been encouraged to do so by the
spirits ; but I think it better to let the spirits tell them.'

'* Thursday passed away without any further incident,
and nothing was said to Dr. Maxwell concerning Mrs.
Stephens's experiences in the night, or the concomitant
nature of the automatic script with those experiences.

" On Friday morning. Dr. Maxwell told Professor
Richet that he had just obtained more automatic writ-
ing through M. Meurice. This writing purported to be
a communication from Chappe. The communication
concerned Mrs. Stephens, said Dr. Maxwell, but was
not to be given to her for the time being. Chappe

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 353

asked that a sitting might be arranged for on the same
afternoon, as he had something to say. The sitting took
place ; it lasted from two to six o'clock, during the whole
of which time Chappe did not once make use of his
well-known subterfuges of ' fatigue,' ' silence,' ' no power,'
etc, ; and, though as the seance wore on M. Meurice
was very visibly fatigued, the operating agency manifested
absolute indifference to such fatigue. It was as though
Chappe had indeed something to say and meant to say
it. The messages were given by means of raps without
contact to begin with, but in order to diminish the
chances of fatigue to the medium, we begged him to use
the pencil as a rapping instrument. The light was
strong, — an afternoon siMnmer sunlight shining into the
room ; the pencil did not move when the raps were
heard. The latter were given with force and without
any hesitation ; they were as strong at the end of the
seance as at the beginning."

(In order to afford the reader every assistance in his
appreciation and analysis of these messages, we will give
them in the original.)

" Chappe gave his special signal intimating he was
present.

" Observer : ' You wish to speak with us, Chappe ? '

" Chappe : ' Je veux demander a vos amis la permis-
sion de vous parler de ce qui vous interesse.'

" Acting on the advice of Chappe, we then traced the
' magic circle ' in order to prevent, as Chappe said, the
intervention of too many influences, and to preserve
purity in the phenomena.

" Observer, after an interval of ten minutes : ' Are
you ready, Chappe ? '

354 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

" Much confusion in the raps, and impossibility of
obtaining an intelligent answer ; after half an hour of
confusion came the laboriously spelt out message : —

" Chappe : ' Peut-etre que vous etes isoles.'

« Observer : ' Why ? '

" Chappe : * Parce que vous les avez renvoyes, cercle
magique.'

" We were led to understand by this that the magic
circle had had too good an effect, and prevented even
Chappe from communicating with his companions. Once
more we followed his instructions, inviting our ' friends '
into the circle. It was then announced that Robert, one
of Mrs. Stephens's deceased relatives, was present and
wished to speak. When asked what he had to say, we
received : —

" Robert : ' Bonnes fees qui entourent et qui m'em-
pechent de vous rejoindre.'

" We begged the ' good fairies ' to be so kind as to
allow this friend to communicate. The raps indicated
that the favour was accorded, and that our friend could
now communicate with us.

"Robert: 'vos esp^rances sont revues avec joie

PAR TOUS.'

" Observer : ' What do you mean ? Give one signi-
ficative word.'

" Robert : ' enfant predestine X faire scienti-

FIQUEMENT DE GRANDES CHOSES.'

" Mrs. Stephens : ' What child ? '
" Robert : ' Le votre ; il arrivera, il faut etre heureuse,
vous aurez tant de bonheur.'

" Observer : ' Have you anything more to say .'' '
" Robert : ' Appelle ton enfant Chetien Alexandre.'

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 355

" Observer : ' Is Chetien Alexandre correct ? '

" Robert : ' Alexandre Chretien.' ^

" Observer : ' Can you predict on what day he will be
born ? '

" Robert : ' Oui. Epiphanie.' ^

" Mrs. Stephens : ' Do you know who the child's
guide is ? '

"Robert: 'Oui.'

" Mrs. Stephens : ' What is his name ? '

" Robert : ' Reponse plus tard.'

" Observer : ' Have you anything more to say ? '

" Robert : ' Prudence,' For whom .'' ^ Marie ' (Mrs.
Stephens). ' Au revoir.'

" At the end of the above seance Dr. Maxwell handed
Professor Richet the automatic script he had received in
the morning. It read : '. . . (Mrs. Stephens) est en
voie de famille. Elle desire aller a Biarritz et que (the
name of the medium's sister) I'accompagne. Mais dites
lui d'aller a Bordeaux, ou elle sera mieux soignee et ou
les influences sont bonnes.'

" A few days after the above messages had been received,
the raps again signified their desire to communicate. The
following conversation then took, place.

" Observer : ' Who is here } '

" Reply : ' Robert. Menagez Marie. Marie . . .

1 " The medium has frequently said that if he ever had a son, he would call
him Chretien. The name Alexandre was also constantly on our lips, for two
personifications, who frequently claimed to be communicating, were called
Alexandre.

2 " Mrs. Stephens had a preference for the Epiphany, and she told us, after
the seance, that she had mentally asked her child might be born on that day —
the 6th of January." — Note by Dr. X.

356 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Aesotheu . . .' (change of tonality, and Chappe's signal
was given).

" Chappe : ' Restez un moment tranquille. II y a
trop de monde.'

" (Another change of tonality in the raps, followed by
C. R.'s signal — Professor Richet's grandfather.)

" C. R. ' Quelque force mauvaise m'empeche de vous
parler.' (Confusion for some time ; raps of various
tonalities and in great number resound on the woodwork
of the foot of the medium's bed — we were holding the
seance in his room by Chappe's express desire.)

" Chappe : ' Je ne veux pas qu'on se serve de cette
chambre.'

" Observer : ' Why .? '

" Chappe : ' Parce que Meurice y couche.'

" Observer : ' Where shall we go then ? '

" Chappe : ' Ou vous voudrez.'

" This was not by any means the first time we had held
a seance in M. Meurice's room, no objection had ever
been made to this proceeding before, which, in fact, had
been recommended by Chappe.

" It was impossible to obtain another sign of any nature
whatsoever. Professor Richet, Mrs. Stephens, and I
went out of the room, leaving Dr. Maxwell and the
medium alone. We had scarcely left when the latter,
it appears, turned to Dr. Maxwell and said : ' I see
Professor Richet tearing up some printed matter and
burning it. I think it is the bad influence Chappe was
speaking about.'

" We three alone, commenting upon these messages,
laid stress upon the excuse of ' bad influences,' and
thought it was probably one of Chappe's tricks to

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 357

avoid working, when it did not suit him to work. But
suddenly Professor Richet remembered a piece of news-
paper which he had put into his inner breast coat-pocket
early that same morning, and on which was the name of
a man who had been drowned the previous week —
drowned before our eyes. This event had left a great
impression on us all, every one had made strenuous
efforts to save the man, and the medium in particular
had striven hard to restore life. Professor Richet,
coming across the man's name in a newspaper, had cut it
out, and put the slip into his pocket-book, for reference
sake, incase the phenomena should turn upon the drowned
man. No one was near or could possibly have seen
Professor Richet do this ; he also took the precaution of
destroying the paper from which he had taken the
announcement.

" Now Professor Richet took the cutting out of his
pocket-book, tore it up and burnt it before Mrs.
Stephens and myself, laughingly saying : ' Let us see
if that will destroy the bad influence.'

" It was not till some hours afterwards, that he was
told of what M. Meurice had said relative to the
* burning of printed matter,' etc.

" The next day, M. Meurice gave a fine phenomenon
of attraction in presence of Professor Richet and Dr.
Maxwell, It was two o'clock in the afternoon ; the
two latter were playing chess ; M. Meurice was lying
on the floor reading ; a fan was on the floor near
him. He said : ' I begin to feel the cobwebby
sensation in my fingers ; let us see if I can attract this
fan.' Dr. Maxwell and Professor Richet left the table,

358 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

and knelt down on the floor beside M. Meurice ; the
latter proceeded, first of all, as though he were
envelophig the fan with something ; then, meeting his
hands at the finger-tips, he drew them back very slowly.
When his fingers were about six inches away from the
fan, the latter moved, and slowly followed his fingers for
a distance of five inches. Professor Richet and Dr.
Maxwell assured themselves by sight and touch, that
the fan was not normally connected with the medium.
The latter had a violent gastric attack immediately after
the production of this phenomenon.

" Professor Richet's birthday occurred during these
investigations, and, when the day arrived, we ventured
to express a hope that he might be favoured with some
good phenomena. We tried, and received abundant
signs of energy in the shape of raps. Chappe was asked
if he had not something to say or ofFer Professor Richet
as a birthday present.

" Reply : ' Depuis votre naissance vous avez grandi 1
Vous aurez des communications plus interessantes, que
celles que vous avez revues.'

" At this point some one asked the medium if he felt
tired, and Chappe at once dictated : —

" ' II faut pour un moment se reposer si on est fatigue.'
However, no notice was taken of this advice.

" Prof. R: 'Why has my mother never communicated.'' '

'' Chappe : * Parce que vous ne I'avez jamais appelee.' ^

" Here the raps indicate that ' C. R.' wishes to com-
municate.

1 " True 5 but then neither was C. R. nor Antoine B. nor any other per-
sonification ever evoked." — Note by Dr. X.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 359

*' C. R. (Prof. Richet's grandfather) : ' Je suis tres
content d'etre avec vous.' Much confusion and mean-
ingless rapping. ' Ici.'

** Chappe : ' G. ne vous reverra pas.'

" Prof. R. : ' Can you tell me my mother's name ? '

" Chappe : ' Je pourrai le dire quand je le saurai.'

" There was a brief silence, during which Chappe was
supposed to be asking C. R. for the desired name.

" Chappe : ' Ad^le.' Wrong. But it was known that
this was a family name.

" C. R. : 'Veux-tu voir ta mere.'' Fais attention.
Cette nuit elle t'apparaitra en reve.' This promise was
not fulfilled.

" Prof. R. : ' Try again for my mother's name.'

*'C. R. : 'A — o — a — m — e; Marig ; Antoine ;
ther.'

" There was no approach to the desired name. There
was plenty of energy, and the raps flowed quickly and
without hesitation in certain instances, such as ' Veux-tu
voir ta mere ? '

" Chappe : ' Prudence.'

" Observer : ' Why ? '

" Observer : * Can you now give the name of the
child's guide ^ '

" Chappe : ' Plus tard. Adieu.'

*' The communicating intelligence frequently manifests
— a fact which was particularly noticeable during this
series of experiments — a supreme indifference to scien-
tific aspirations, to furnishing proofs of identity or of
any desire to meet the investigator halfway, and help
him in his researches.

" Since the communications concerning Mrs. Stephens

36o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

had been received, whenever it was intimated that ' they '
had something to say, that something was generally the
word ' Prudence ' or terms of a like signification.

" The agency at work allowed it to be clearly seen
that — for the time being at least — it interested itself in
no one save in Mrs. Stephens. This solicitude was
continued up to the last ; time after time the word
' Prudence * was uttered, so often in fact as to lose all
meaning from sheer force of repetition ; and no out-of-
the-way heed was taken of the advice.

" This series of experiments came to an end.

'* Mrs. Stephens took a villa on the outskirts of
Bordeaux, where the medium's sister joined her.

" It appears that Mrs. Stephens looked forward with
unusual joy to the coming event, and was much opposed
to the idea of a wet nurse. I was now at Bordeaux ; I
often saw Mrs. Stephens, and it is highly probable that
M. Meurice, like myself, knew of Mrs. Stephens's very
legitimate desire. Now Chappe had, for some time,
given no sign of his presence ; but one day, when M.
Meurice, Mrs. S., and I were out walking, sharp raps
suddenly resounded on the medium's walking-stick.
Mrs. S. begged him to touch the handle of her umbrella —
which was open ; raps were then given on the outstretched
silk. With loud decided raps, Chappe quickly dictated :
' Retenez bien ceci, il ne faut pas laisser Marie allaiter.'
We asked the wherefore, but the silence was com-
plete ; do what we would, not another rap could be
obtained.

" On another occasion, when raps were forthcoming,
we asked Chappe for a word which would portray the

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA -,6i

state of mind of those present, and received the very-
appropriate reply : ' Paix absolue.' This message was
given on the silk of the open umbrella, M. Meurice
lightly touching the handle only.

*' As the 6th of January drew near, Chappe began to
get nervous about the fate of the prediction, and, by
means of automatic writing, he indicated that we were
to remember, that it was not he, but Robert, who had
predicted that the birth would take place on the 6th
January. Thereupon, he added that the event would
not occur before the 15th of January — that it would
take place on the night of the 14th- 15 th January.
During the last fortnight this was often referred to by
Chappe, by means of automatic writing — which perhaps
gives more scope for the play of the subliminal. Chappe
washed his hands, so to say, of Robert and his
doings.

" Towards the 20th of December, Mrs. Stephens
received news that her husband was on his way home,
but was feeling rather unwell. In the letter, the word
' nephrite ' was made use of. Mrs, S. did not mention
this to any one ; she said, however, that her husband
had a slight kidney worry. The next day, the following
communication, bearing upon Mr. S.'s anticipated arrival
in Bordeaux, was received from Chappe by raps through
the pencil : —

" ' II faut que vous I'empechiez de se mettre en route
pour Bordeaux,'

" Why ? ' Maladie serieuse s'il avait froid.' What is
he suffering from ? ' Nephrite. Recommandez repos
absolu ; bonsoir.*

" On another occasion, always referring to the same

362 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

subject, Mr. S.'s indisposition, Chappe said : ' Pas sage
de faire le trajet de Londres a Bordeaux. Rassurez-
vous. Maladie pas grave.'

"The child — a boy — was born at 2.15 on the after-
noon of the 5 th January, that is, on the eve of the
Epiphany — -and not on the Epiphany as was predicted

(page 3SS)'

" Mrs. Stephens desired to add the name of Quentin to
the names of Alexandre Chretien. I happened to mention
this to M. Meurice, and by so doing awakened Chappe
and a salvo of raps. He would not say what he. wanted,
and M. Meurice remarked : * We are to go into Mrs.
Stephens's bedroom.' We were admitted. M. Meurice
stood near the head of the bed, but did not touch it.
The raps resounded on the wood of the bed. Chappe
dictated : ' II ne faut pas appeler Quentin.' The force
was abundant, and this message had been given quickly
and with decision ; yet, when we asked why the child
should not be called Quentin, we could get no reply.
It was for all the world as though a distinct intelligence
was behind those raps, one, who, like ourselves, knew,
on occasion, how to say : ' I have said ; let that
suffice.'

" For a week, all went well with mother and child.
Seven days after the child's birth, Mrs. Stephens was
seized with a violent and inexplicable fever. The follow-
ing day, a thoughtless servant handed her a telegram ;

' " On the 4th Januaiy, Mrs. Stephens was particularly anxious about her
husband, and insisted on driving into Bordeaux and personally sending him
a telegram. Without a doubt, the anxiety and physical restlessness of the
previous few days hastened the event." — Note by Dr. X.

RECENT PSYCHICAL PHENOMENA 363

the telegram announced the death of her husband. The
fever regained possession, and Mrs. Stephens died the
same night.

" Perhaps in conclusion, and as our only comment on
this history, it may not be out of place to recall to mind
Chappe's oft-repeated word, ' Prudence.' "

And now, lest in the relation of the foregoing
experiences, say rather in this simple registration of a
few ascertained facts, we be reproached for a language
which carries associations from which certain minds of
a scientific bent may shrink, may we be permitted to say
that there is more appearance than reality in our back-
sliding— if backsliding there be. We have given an
exposition of facts, touching upon unknown forces
and arduous problems ; the magnitude and complexity
of which we realise but too deeply — problems which
cannot be solved by academic methods. Time and
patient constancy of research are needed to bring them
to a successful issue.

364 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

CHAPTER VTI

FRAUD AND ERROR

This work would be incomplete, if I did not carefully
examine fraud and errors of observation. The first
should always be considered as possible. Errors of
observation are even more numerous than fraud, and
their sources are manifold. We should study them,
learn their causes, and suspect them until the contrary
has been proved.

I. FRAUD

Fraud can be conscious, unconscious, or mixed. I
have no need to say how frequent the first is, especially
with paid mediums. Spiritistic reviews, notably the
Revue Spirite, Revue Morale et Scientifique du Spiritisme,
Light, Psychische Studien, give many examples of fraud
discovered by spiritists themselves. Unconscious fraud
is no less common than conscious fraud ; as for the
third, mixed fraud, this is also very often observed.

Conscious fraud. — (a) Raps. Nothing is easier to
imitate. I have indicated the diverse ways of repro-
ducing them artificially : gliding the finger or nail along
the top of the table, with or without the help of resin ;
rapping with the feet ; gliding the foot or dress —
especially silk, dresses — against the legs of table, etc.

FRAUD AND ERROR 365

These diverse movements imitate feeble raps to per-
fection, if they be slowly made. For that reason I have
always refused to consider raps as convincing when
produced with any contact whatever. Consequently I
exclude raps produced on the floor from those phenomena
which have determined my conviction. Certain persons
seem to be able to move their tendons at will, even
making a considerable noise in that way. I observed
this with a medical student who, by resting his elbow
on the table, produced very sonorous raps ; but the
movement of his arm was easily seen. I know another
person who could crack his joints at will.

The play of the knee-joint has been especially in-
criminated by Mrs. Sidgwick in her article ' The
Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism ' (Proceedings of the
S.P.R. xiii. 45). She recalls to mind the interpretations
given by Drs. Lee, Flint, and Coventry, who observed
Mrs. Kane and Mrs. Underbill, two of the famous Fox
sisters. Mrs. Sidgwick experimented with the third
sister, Mrs. Jencken, and accepted the explanation of the
American doctors. For them, the double raps were
produced by a rapid movement of dislocation and
readjustment of the knee. By placing in such a position
as to render that voluntary dislocation impossible, e.g. by
making the medium sit down with outstretched legs
and heels resting on a soft cushion, no raps were forth-
coming. It is possible that the explanation of the
American doctors may be true concerning the case
examined by them. In those which I have studied, it is
certainly not acceptable. I have obtained raps on a
table without any kind of contact whatsoever. J have
obtained them on the floor, by placing the medium in

366 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

positions which excluded the play of articulation. The
kind of fraud in question was not therefore in operation.
I have even made some mediums sit on my knees when
raps were forthcoming ; I then made sure the raps were
produced on the table, and that the latter was not
touched. My conclusion as to the reality of the pheno-
menon of raps is the result of nearly two hundred
observations.

In obscurity, the means of cheating are unimaginable.
I saw a young medium, who had succeeded in concealing
a stick, simulate raps on the ceiling with it. I have
known two others hit the table with their fists, kick it
with their feet, etc. Everything is possible in darkness,
and with certain confiding observers.

(b) Parakinesis, or abnormal movements of objects
with contact. I have often said that all movements
with contact — except certain levitations which are, how-
ever, difficult to observe with precision — are worthless.
I have indicated the chief ways of simulating levitations,
either by the hands, the feet or the knees. I will not
revert to this.

These methods are difficult in full light, but when
the experimenters are placed in such a position as to be
unable to keep a reciprocal watch over the feet, the
second method is still easily brought into play.

(c) 'Telekinesis. — Fraud is more difficult to perpetrate
here. A connecting link of some kind or other would
be required to move objects possessing a certain weight
and bulk. I look upon this phenomenon as most
convincing, when it is obtained in full light ; in obscurity,
it is to a certain extent unverifiable.

{d) Luminous -phenomena are easily simulated ; phos-

FRAUD AND ERROR 367

phorescent oil and certain sulphides give excellent imi-
tations of hands and forms. I have seen a photograph
taken by magnesian light in a seance for materialisation.
The medium, by way of imitating a materialised garment
of some kind, had wound a white cloth around his neck,
and moreover wore a false beard. Those present at this
seance will not admit they were cheated. One of the
sitters, a friend of mine, one familiar with psychical
matters, but too honest himself to suspect fraud in
others, did not think my judgment in this case was
correct. It was necessary to have it confirmed by the
celebrated Papus !

As for the phenomenon of attouchements^ this is of all
phenomena the most easily simulated in obscurity.

Every one knows the role played by dolls, disguises
and confederates in seances for materialisation. The
trickster's imagination is of inconceivable fertility. The
recent Rothe trial gives us a fresh example of this.

{e) Motor and sensory automatisms can be imitated
with extreme facility, and their efficacious control is
impossible. A careful analysis of the messages is
necessary in order to appreciate their value. On the
other hand, well-observed premonitions are of immense
importance.

From the preceding, we see that all psychical pheno-
mena can be simulated ; this does not mean that every
psychical phenomenon is simulated. Those who wish to
explain away everything by fraud make as great a
mistake, as those who trustingly accept everything with-
out control.

There is an important general observation to be made
concerning the phenomena I am treating in this book.

368 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

It is of historical order, but nevertheless it gives a much
wider signification to these facts than is usually accorded
them. Many writers, Janet among them, imagine that
spiritistic phenomena, as they call them, date from the
celebrated events of Rochester, about the year 1847,
where the Fox sisters were the objects of diverse mani-
festations. But in reality these facts date much further
back. One of the best observed cases is the one spoken
of by Dr. Kerner in his book Die Seherin von Prevorsty
which has been translated by Dr. Dusart into French,
probably from Mrs. Crowe's English translation.
Kerner observed raps and movements without contact
from the year 1827, when he had Madame HaufF staying
in his house.

Phenomenon of the same kind are to be met with in
accounts of haunted houses. There are stories of this
kind dating from remote epochs, and diverse decrees of
parliament exist cancelling leases for this cause. These
phenomena were criticised at the end of the eighteenth
century.

It is only the metaphysical system founded upon these
facts which is new. It is in that, and in that only, that
spiritism or spiritualism consists. It is undeniable that
the doctrine embodying the essence of these teachings
has attained a considerable extension. I pointed out the
radical differences existing between the beliefs of Anglo-
Saxon spiritists and those of spiritists of other nationalities,
particularly in that which concerns reincarnation. I will
not go back to this ; but in order to specify the point in
question, I will recall to mind that the only new pheno-
mena which spiritistic forms of contemporary mysticism
offer, are their constitution into a body of religious

FRAUD AND ERROR 369

doctrines and their rapid extension. These phenomena
are of sociological, not biological order. The facts upon
which they are based belong, on the contrary, to biology.

Further, it is not absolutely true to say, that the meta-
physical theories established upon the revelations of
spirits are new. The life of some of the ' saints ' in the
Roman Church offers us several examples, one of the
most celebrated being the devotion to the Sacre Cosur de
Jesus ^ a special kind of worship based upon revelations
claimed to have been accorded to a nun named Marie
Alacoque, who lived in the eighteenth century. Monastic
life has not the monopoly of such experiences. Commerce
with spirits appears to be likewise one of the elements
of the religious ceremonies of the Shakers ; even the
Mormons seem to indulge in practices similar to those
of spiritism ; Jerome Cardan, John Dee, Martinez de
Pasqually pass for having held intercourse with im-
material beings ; members of the order of the Red Cross
have also been looked upon as holding frequent inter-
course with diverse genii. If we study the history of
human thought, we see that nothing is really new, nothing
save perhaps the contemporary extension of spiritism.
From many points of view, spiritism appears to play a
role in the civilised, sceptical, material society of to-day,
analogous to the simple role which Christianity played in
the second and third centuries of our era.

But this is a sociological problem ; its examination,
however interesting it may be, would lead me beyond
the limits I have traced for myself. I will confine
myself, therefore, to drawing from the brief historical
account I have just given, the conclusion it admits of.
The facts studied by Janet and others are anterior to

2 A

370 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

spiritism, and cannot be legitimately designated by this
name. I have already indicated that this word expresses
an ensemble of metaphysical and religious doctrines
explaining psychical phenomena by the intervention of
spirits, and drawing their teachings from the revelations
attributed to these same spirits. It is terminologically
incorrect to designate these facts by a word which has a
wider signification, since it expresses an explanatory
hypothesis of these same facts.

Custom has consecrated the word ' psychical ' facts or
phenomena : this term is also imperfect, and it seems to
me preferable to adopt the new term Metapsychical which
Richet recommends.

Therefore, in the actual state of research, the scientific
problem, it seems to me, is not whether spiritism be true
or false, but whether metapsychical phenomena be real
or imaginary.

As Richet and Ochorowicz have said, every medium
may defraud, and the analysis of fraud is one of the most
complicated problems which the study of psychical
phenomena presents. It is also one of the most interest-
ing. The Cambridge ^ experiments with Eusapia Paladino
put clearly before us the question of fraud and its signifi-
cation.

Before entering upon the psychological examination of
fraud, it appears to me necessary to explain the significa-
tion of the terms I am going to use, and after that to
classify medianic phenomena.

It is of primary importance to determine the correct
signification of the expression consciousness." There are

1 See Apjiendix B.

^ The Freucli have but one word to express what is meant ui English by

FRAUD AND ERROR 371

few words in philosophical language which have such
diverse acceptations. As my conception of consciousness
is somewhat special without at the same time being
peculiar to me, I owe it to my readers to say what I mean
to designate by this term.

I conceive consciousness, lato sensu, as a function of
living matter. It is the particular state which determines
in organised and living matter another state of the centre
where this matter lives. It is, if you like, a kind of
reaction of the living matter in harmony with external
phenomena. This mode of reaction, like every other
mode of reaction, allows of two conditions : some sort
of sensibility to the action of the ambient, permitting
variations thereof to be felt ; some sort of activity which
permits of realising an adaptation to the ambient, and of
producing internal modifications corresponding, in some
measure, to the perceived external modifications. In
order that the internal modifications may realise this
equilibrium, they must not go beyond a certain ampli-
tude, whence the theoretic necessity for the sensibility to
be always apprised of the internal modifications of the
living substance, as it perceives the external modifications
of the ambient.

Experience proves that in reality things do happen in
this way. In fact, we are able in the animal kingdom to
prove the existence of special organs, some of them
destined to the perception of the successive states of the
ambient and of the individual, the others to the active

the word Conscience (i.e. tlie principle which decides on the lawfuhiess or
unlawfuhiess of our actions or desires), and the word Consciousness (i.e. the
being aware, the knowing of one's own thoughts). Nevertheless we consider
this chapter could ill spare this masterly synthesis. — Note of Translatoi'.

372 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

realisation of the latter to the former. The different
modifications provoked in the receptive system by the
variations of the ambient, determine in their turn the
intervention of the active system which realises the
internal variations. This is the principle of the nervous
and muscular systems, the latter being only put into play
by the former ; natural history shows us the progressive
specialisation of these nervous and muscular elements.
At first non-differentiated in appearance, the animal cell
presents in more complicated animals a sensitive pole and
an active pole, the one nervous, the other muscular.
The myo-epithelial or neuro- muscular cells offer us a
classical example in the hydra.

The examination of the development of the nervous
system and of the muscular system in the vertebrata shows
us their growing specialisation. The nervous cells are
associated in systems more or less dependent the one
upon the other ; the muscular cells are accumulated into
masses. This is the application of that law of the
division of labour, the constant operation of which we
observe in all the phenomena of life. The nervous cells
are grouped together in a heap, in a nucleus, and send
their prolongations to the periphery or to the organs.
These prolongations are of two kinds : some transmit
impressions towards the cell (dendrites prolongations),
others transmit excitations proceeding from the cell
(cylindraxes prolongations).^ The centres themselves
are hierarchised, so to speak, and are divided into two
wide categories : the first destined to the functions of

1 Dendrites, nerves conducting the influx towards the centre of tlie cell.
Cylindraxes, nerves conducting from the cell towards the periphery or
towards another cell.

FRAUD AND ERROR 373

organic life, circulation, secretions, digestion, etc. ; the
second to those of the life of relation. These two cate-
gories include the sensitive cells and the motor cells ; the
one transmits to the other the stimulus born of excita-
tions provoked by the internal or external centres.

In superior animals, at any rate in man, we observe
that the activity of certain nervous centres is accompanied
by a particular phenomenon, which is designated under
the name of /)^rj'(?;7<2/ consciousness. It is the notion we
have that the phenomenon is perceived by us, that the
movement executed is executed by us.

Personal consciousness does not accompany all per-
ceived phenomena, nor all executed movements. Certain
given conditions of diverse orders appear necessary, for
the consciousness to become aware of these phenomena.
This conscious consciousness is translated by the connec-
tion of the impression or of the movement with a
personality.

This personality looks to us as though it were con-
tinuous. It is around it that our past impressions
are grouped in the form of souvenirs. It is that which
continues the ' self.'

The consciousness I have just described is what I call
the personal consciousness. The notion of personality
which characterises it is not invariable, and is not necessary.

It is not invariable, because the study of morbid
psychology reveals to us that different personalities can
succeed one another in the same individual, or even
appear to be concomitant. This is notably the case with
secondary personalities in hysteria or in epilepsy.

It is not necessary, for diverse phenomena can be
perceived and stored up in the memory without the

374 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

personal consciousness being conscious thereof ; in the
same way, movements adapted to a certain purpose may-
be executed without the personal consciousness being
warned thereof: such are notably the reflex and
complicated movements, which custom has rendered
automatic.

The result of these facts is that the personal con-
sciousness is manifested as a limitation of the general
consciousness, of what I will simply call the consciousness.
The study of the alterations of memory notably — diverse
amnesias, hypermnesias, paramnesiae — shows us that those
souvenirs of which the general and impersonal conscious-
ness has the free disposition are incomparably more
numerous than those at the disposal of the personal
consciousness. This is incontestable as far as memory
is concerned ; is it so with intelligence ? It is hard to
say ; there are, however, numerous examples of problems
solved and of work accomplished without the knowledge
of the personal consciousness.

Anatomy and physiology inform us, that personal con-
sciousness is manifested in phenomena, which appear to
have their seat in certain regions on the surface of the
cerebral hemispheres. The cortical region seems to be
appropriated, at least in part, by psychological phenomena,
of which personality is the centre, active memory, atten-
tion, judgment, abstraction, will. It is for this reason
that this region is called ' the superior centres.' Under-
neath this region the cerebral sub-cortical ganglions, the
bulbous and medullary nuclei, the sympathetic gang-
lions, and the plexus constitute the inferior centres which
preside over certain functions foreign to the personal
consciousness.

FRAUD AND ERROR 375

However, it must not be thought that the activity
of the cortical centres is always perceived by the personal
consciousness. That of the motor centres, for example,
may exist unknown to the personal consciousness. I have
already given the indication of certain complicated move-
ments which can be voluntary and personally conscious
in the beginning, and become, in the end, unconscious
and yet voluntary ; e.g. the playing of a musical instru-
ment. Likewise, certain involuntary movements can
sometimes be perceived by the personal consciousness ;
e.g. the rapid movement we make in chasing away a fly
which is worrying us. If the centre motors of the arm
which drives away the fly be sub-cortical or medullary,
it is none the less true that the movements executed,
even when they appear to be pure reflex movements, can
sometimes be perceived.

Movements executed without the participation of the
personal consciousness and will are called automatic.
This expression signifies for me, that the voluntary
activity of the personality remains foreign to the move-
ment executed.

Therefore, in the motor sphere, that is to say in move-
ments, we may have different relations between the
movement executed and the personal consciousness. We
have, first of all, conscious and voluntary movements ;
then involuntary or impulsive movements, perceived or
unperceived by the personal consciousness.

These diverse movements are normal : that is to say,
they are executed according to the recognised rules of
muscular activity ; they do not go beyond the peripheral
limit of the body ; the nervous influx is diffused along
the nerves in the ordinary manner.

376 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

If the nervous influx, or more correctly speaking, the
mode of energy which constitutes it, goes beyond the
material limits of the body, we have phenomena desig-
nated by de Rochas under the name of exteriorisation de
la motricite. These are again automatic phenomena for
me, since the personal consciousness and the will do not
participate in them. But they present a feature which
distinguishes them from normal automatisms : they are
exosomatic, if I may use that expression, while the others
are endosomatic. These two expressions signify for me,
the one exosomatic, that the movements are produced
beyond the limits of the body ; the other endosomatic,
that they are produced within the limits of the body,
that is to say by muscular activity acting physiologically.
The first, which are apparently contrary to the ordinary
data of experience, are paranormal phenomena, that is to
say, outside the usual rule ; the second, on the contrary,
are normal. Parakinesis is a paranormal movement with
contact ; telekinesis is a paranormal movement without
contact.

Sensibility presents the same categories of facts.
Properly speaking there is no veritable automatism in
phenomena of sensitivity ; but we can nevertheless dis-
tinguish therein, first, normal sensitive phenomena — that
is to say, phenomena produced under physiological con-
ditions, more or less well-known, but frequent, such as
hallucinations, hypermnesias ; and second, paranormal
phenomena, that is to say, phenomena which imply the
existence of modes of perception to which the normal
personality is foreign — clairvoyance, clairaudience, tele-
assthesia, telepathy (Myers, Gurney, Podmore), exteriori-
sation of motor pov/er (de Rochas).

FRAUD AND ERROR 377

I have already indicated that these perceptions appear
to depend upon the impersonal consciousness, and that
the impressions thus perceived are transmitted to the
personal consciousness in a given form analogous to that
of dream perceptions — that is to say, in a dramatic form,
with a concrete and symbolical setting. The impersonal
consciousness seems, therefore, to be affected in a vague,
general manner : the perceptions only assume an appear-
ance of precision in those strata of the consciousness,
where the notion of personality is determined. Hence
the following conclusions, which I only give as proba-
bilities : (i) that the notion of personality is susceptible
of diverse degrees ; (2) that the impressions perceived by
the general consciousness are agreeable or disagreeable —
that is to say, only impart to the personal consciousness
a very vague message, moral comfort or indefinable dis-
comfort ; that, in rarer cases, the transmitted message is
more precise, and takes the form of a detailed hallucina-
tion ; (3) that, if telepathy exists, the general conscious-
ness is capable of being affected by channels other than
those of the ordinary senses, which have only a value in
ratio to the personal consciousness of which they are,
perhaps, the condition.

This last consideration brings us back to the definition
which I gave a little while ago of consciousness, which
is, for me, the common property of all living matter :
its sensuality is limited and specified by the senses, is
limited and specified by the personality and the will.

I beg the reader to excuse me for having entered into
these explanations. I wished, as I said before, to state
as clearly as possible the meanings I attach to the terms
I use ; I have still another task to accomplish somewhat

378 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

similar to the last : which is to classify medianic pheno-
mena before studying their relations with fraud. In the
first place I divide them into two wide categories, each
capable of penetrating into the other, for, with the
exception of luminosities, physical phenomena are rarely
devoid of all meaning, and intellectual phenomena have
always some fact of a physical nature as substratum.
Therefore, these two categories are two different aspects
of the same phenomena rather than two distinct cate-
gories.

If we consider the purely physical side, we have the
following approximate series : —

PHYSICAL PHENOMENA

Sonorous. — Raps ; diverse noises.

Motor. — Normal ; paranormal ; parakinesis ; tele-
kinesis.

Luminous. — Amorphous ; definite forms ; psychic (?)
photography.

If we consider the form of communications, in appear-
ance intelligent, by adhering to the mode of expression
of the intellectual sense of the phenomena, we have the
following classification : —

INTELLECTUAL PHENOMENA ! ENDOSOMATIC
AUTOMATISM

Muscular. — Typtology ; grammatology ; automatic
script ; automatic speaking.

Sensorial. — Visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory
phenomena.

FRAUD AND ERROR

379

Vaso-Motor. — Secretory phenomena ; vascular pheno-
mena ; perspirations, etc.

EXOSOMATIC AUTOMATISM

[Exteriorisations) : Motor. — Telekinesis ; psychography
(direct writing) ; psychophony (direct voice).

Sensitive-Sensorial. — Telepathy ; telaesthesia.

Plastic. — Materialisations ; apports, etc.

On the other hand, if we examine fraud in a general
manner, we will notice the following correspondences :
the words conscious and unconscious are taken in the
sense of the personal consciousness : —

Motricity -. normal.

paranormal. 4.

Conscious and voluntary Conscious voluntary
movements. fraud. Simulation;

responsibility.
Conscious but involuntary Conscious impulsive

fraud. Simulation;
irresponsibility.
Impulsive and uncon-
scious fraud ; irre-
sponsibility.
No fraud.

Sensibility : normal.

Sensihility : normal.

movements.

Unconscious and involun-
tary movements.

Exteriorisation of motricity
and plasticity ; telekin-
esis; materialisations.

Voluntary falsehood.

6. Illusions ; hallucinations ;
hypermnesise ; param-
nesiae.
para?iormal. 7. Exteriorisation of the sen-
sibility ; clairaudience ;
telepathy ; clairvoyance.

Voluntary and con-
scious fraud. Sim-
ulation ; responsi-
bility.

No fraud ,- no real
phenomenon.

No fraud ; real phe-
nomena.

As for true exosomatic automatism, there can be no
question of fraud as far as it is concerned. This classi-

38o METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

fication, which I only give as an experiment, appears to
me more complete than that of Ochorowicz's {Annales de
Sciences Psychiques^ vi. 97). The latter distinguishes —

{a) Conscious fraud.

(b) Unconscious fraud :

in the waking state . . | Medianity of an

in the trance state . . J inferior order.

{c) Partial, automatic fraud . 1 Medianity of a

i^d) The pure phenomenon . . j superior order.

If we compare Ochorowicz's table with mine we will
notice that his conscious fraud corresponds to Nos. i and
5 of my classification.

His unconscious fraud to No. 3.

I divide his partial, automatic fraud into the classes
2, 3, and 6.

The pure phenomenon into the classes 4 and 7.

His superior medianity includes all exosomatic auto-
matisms (Nos. 4 and 7) ; his inferior medianity, the
classes 3 and 6.

These general indications given, it is easy to see that
I divide fraud into three categories, which are, moreover,
susceptible of co-existing and of forming mixed types :
this is the ordinary case. We have, first of all, the
guilty, voluntary and conscious fraud ; then the impul-
sive, but conscious, frequent fraud ; then the unconscious
and involuntary fraud, veritable normal automatism : the
author cannot be held responsible for this last order of
fraud, which is, moreover, very frequent with many
excellent mediums.

If we study the psychological mechanism of fraud, we
will find variable and diverse causes.

FRAUD AND ERROR 381

I. CONSCIOUS AND VOLUNTARY FRAUD

The most usual cause is self-interest. This is the
case with charlatans, who speculate upon the credulity
of the public. We must not think this is the only
motive ; each impostor obeys motives which are peculiar
to himself. The medical student, who gave me such
curious examples of fraud, was not actuated by motives
of self-interest. I think it was simply for the pleasure
of cheating, of taking me in, for I had often spoken to
him about my suspicions. He often cheated simply as
a prank ; this is what happened in a seance given by
a spiritistic group to convince some new converts,
when my student, it appears, gave them manifestations
somewhat out of the common !

However, conscious and voluntary fraud raise no real
psychological problem.

2. CONSCIOUS AND INVOLUNTARY OR MIXED FRAUD

On the contrary, the problem originates in this order
of fraud. It often happens in circles, though composed
of honourable persons, that some of the sitters, who
would be incapable of voluntarily committing a fraud,
do not dare to accuse themselves of an involuntary
movement made by them, and of which they are con-
scious. This can only be applied to fairly rapid
movements, such as those which imitate raps or para-
kinetic movements. In serious seances, the sitters
should give themselves the habit of openly acknowledging
every involuntary movement ; it will be noticed that
certain persons are very prone to these movements.
They often end by being ashamed of accusing them-

382 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

selves so often, and thus fraud from timidity : I have
met with this, especially among women. It is one of
the reasons which make me condemn all experiments
for the production of movements with contact.

Timidity is the usual cause of this kind of fraud : the
psychological problem raised is simple.

3. UNCONSCIOUS AND INVOLUNTARY FRAUD

Here the problem becomes complicated. I will not
distinguish, as Ochorowicz does, fraud committed in the
waking state from fraud committed in the trance or
second state. The psychological mechanism is the same
in both cases, and appears to me to depend upon self-
suggestion, or what has been called monoideism^ that is
to say, the mind is invaded by one idea, which ends
by stifling all others, and by realising itself : it is, in
reality, a phenomenon analogous to that determined by
suggestion.

It is in unconscious or involuntary frauds, that the
psychological disaggregation of the medium which Janet
has studied, is best observed. These frauds present
phenomena which are without interest from a medianic
point of view.

What is the mechanism of unconscious and involuntary
frauds ? It appears to me to be the following : the
subjects — they may have been good mediums in their
day — who commit this kind of fraud sit down to the
table, or give a seance in view of obtaining supernormal
phenomena. But the production of these phenomena
is often difficult, sometimes impossible. Immobility,
expectation, and obscurity act powerfully upon the

FRAUD AND ERROR 383

nervous system of these mediums, and particularly so
when they are hysterical. They determine the trance ;
the desire for the phenomenon becomes a fixed idea,
and then a self-suggestion. If the supernormal pheno-
menon delays, the inferior strata of the consciousness —
whose morality often differs greatly from that of the active
personal consciousness — realises it normally.

In the same way, even if the sensitive does not fall
into the trance state, there is, nevertheless, a particular
state manifested which is not sleep, neither is it the full,
genuine waking-state. The active and voluntary personal
element of the consciousness, as well as the judgment,
becomes weakened. The sphere of the personality is
reduced, and personal activity gives place to automatism.
Every degree between conscious and involuntary fraud
and pure automatism is to be met with.

Therefore, it is prudent to take measures to guard
against fraud with all subjects who become entranced,
or with those who become somnolent in obscurity,
silence, immobility, and expectation ; but we should
be frank with our sensitives : let us not offer, in our-
selves, an example of dissimulation to the medium ;
neither must we let him have the impression of not
being controlled : this would be to expose him to a
temptation, all the greater in that his personal power
of volition is weakened.

Add to this, that we do not in the least know what
influence the mental state of the experimenters has upon
the medium, although some kind of influence appears to
me to exist. We do not know to what extent an ill-
founded certitude of fraud can be responsible for its
birth. Ochorowicz says on this subject : —

384 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

* After having recognised that the medium is only a
mirror, who reflects and directs the ideas and nervous
forces of the assistants towards an ideoplastic end, we
will not be surprised to see that suggestion plays an
important role therein. There is no doubt but that
the assistants can suggest the desired act to the
medium ; neither is it doubtful that the manifestations
bear the stamp of surrounding beliefs. In a society of
materialists I have seen " John " (with Eusapia Paladino)
become dissolved into an impersonal force, which the
medium simply called " questa forza," while in intimate
spiritistic circles it took the form of deceased persons,
more or less clumsily. In the same way, with con-
trollers imbued with the idea of fraud as Messrs.
Hodgson and Maskelyne were, the medium will
remain under the empire of a suggestion of fraud.'

Without completely sharing Ochorowicz's conviction,
I have reasons for thinking that his theory comes very
close to the truth. I have myself indicated how sug-
gestible the personification is.

There is something else. In cases where force is
lacking, or is feeble, it is easier for the medium to
obtain the phenomenon normally — that is to say, by
fraud — rather than by veritable exteriorisation. I have
remarked, that often the paranormal movement has to
be normally simulated before it is supernormally realised.
This is frequently the case with Eusapia. We can
conceive how the movement of simulation can end in
fraud, when the medium is in a hemisomnambulistic
state.

In short, the energy which sets an object in move-
ment appears to me to be of nervous origin, and I

FRAUD AND ERROR 385

believe it to be of the same nature as that which pro-
vokes muscular contractions. Therefore, this is what
follows : the force only becomes exteriorised if accumu-
lated and wrought up to a sufficient tension. In pro-
portion as its tension increases, so it tends to expend
itself in the form of impulsive movements ; the medium
must resist this tendency to be able to obtain the pure
phenomenon. Therefore experimenters ought to keep
the medium in this resistance, and not allow him facility
for expending the energy which tends to realise itself in
muscular movements.

Such are the conclusions to which the observations I
have made with several mediums have led me. Uncon-
scious and involuntary fraud is frequent, and in order
to avoid it, the conditions likely to favour it should be
carefully put aside, especially in the beginning of a
series of experiments, and when experimenting with
an undeveloped medium. Medianity is powerfully
influenced by acquired habits.

There exists, finally, another kind of unconscious and
involuntary fraud : that which is due to illusion. It is
constantly found in spiritistic seances, where ninety-nine
times out of a hundred mediums produce no real pheno-
mena. They are, nevertheless, in earnest, but they do
not take into consideration the role of memory and
imagination. This is particularly the case with intuitive
writing mediums and ' control ' mediums. With this
order of phenomenon we rarely obtain verifiable
indications ; the ' spirits ' utter plenty of commonplace
generalities, but give no precise information.

Fraud is a misnomer in this case : being unconscious
and involuntary, it cannot, correctly speaking, be called

2 B

386 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

fraud ; therefore it is better to reserve the word
' illusion ' for it.

I cannot think of analysing the question of fraud in
detail. If examined closely it is extremely complicated.
But, like Richet, I deem ' it possible that in states
bordering on trance, and in trance itself, the psychology
of a medium may be very different from ours.' I con-
fine myself simply to indicating the result of my reflec-
tions, which are the fruit of a long series of observations.
Let me renew my oft-repeated recommendation for
avoiding fraud : Experiment with light, the greatest
possible amount of light, and seek for simple pheno-
mena, difficult, perhaps, to obtain, but easy to observe,
such as raps and movements without contact.

II. ERROR

If I insist so much upon the necessity, especially in
the beginning, of seeking only for phenomena observa-
tion of which is easy, it is because error of observation
is facile. We need to be much accustomed to seances
to be able to distinguish rapidly between probable
phenomena and those which are certainly tricked. It
is with this, as with everything else, a question of time
and reflection.

One of the causes of error, which it is highly important
to avoid, is obscurity. For many simple phenomena
darkness is unnecessary ; therefore, from the very out-
set, we should exhort the personification to accept light.
I have already frequently said that personifications are
very suggestible. I know well it is not always so, and

FRAUD AND ERROR 387

that at times the personification displays much obstinacy.
Personifications of this class are especially observed with
mediums who have long-acquired habits. It was so
with Eusapia, who was only accustomed to giving dark
seances. But even when the personification appears to
have very decided ideas, it is possible, with a little in-
genuity, to induce him to change. It is with them as
with secondary personalities, or subjects to whom we
have given a suggestion. We must enter right into
the circle of suggested ideas in order to break it ; it is
a question of tact only.

With Eusapia we succeeded in operating in a good
light by appealing to ' John's ' vanity. We explained to
him that obscurity stood in the way of the observation
of the phenomena, that he was just as capable of working
in the light as the ' guides ' of other mediums were. In
this way, we lead him to change his habits with us ; the
meno luce to which those who have experimented with this
medium are accustomed, was still demanded, but only
when the seance was well advanced. At Bordeaux,
where there was a large bay-window in the seance-room,
the reflection thereon from the lights burning in the
kitchen and winter-garden enabled us to see a little.
In that case, Eusapia or John did not desire total
obscurity, and we always had this feeble light, allowing
a visual control which was sometimes satisfactory.

When we are lucky enough to meet with an un-
developed medium, it is easy to give him the habit of
operating in full light. This has occasionally happened
to me.

I need not enlarge upon the influence of obscurity
upon error. With some very rare exceptions we can

388 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

never be certain of the authenticity of a phenomenon
obtained in a dark seance.

Obscurity is, however, necessary for luminous pheno-
mena. When once we have observed decided luminous
forms, or really characteristic lights, it is easy to dis-
tinguish between them and illusion. A cool, calm
observer does not make a mistake ; it is not quite the
same with excited experimenters. These latter give
veritable suggestions to one another, and they end by
having curious collective hallucinations. This is one of
the most interesting facts of observation in spiritistic
seances, so rich in purely psychological curiosities. I
have frequently heard a sitter say that he saw a light
in a given direction ; the others looked in their turn and
also saw it. Then one declared he perceived a form ;
soon others also saw a form. And from exclamation to
exclamation the description of the form is completed.
This is the genesis of a collective hallucination.

I need hardly say, that experimenters who are so
suggestible are not good elements : in purely scientific
researches they should be reduced to a minimum.

Personal experience has shown me, that of all the
senses, that of sight is the most liable to imaginary
impressions ; after sight, the sense of touch is the most
prompt to receive illusion. There are constant examples
of this in spiritistic seances ; the cool breeze^ which is
often really felt, is more often only imaginary. One
person says he feels it ; others at once imagine they feel
it also. Sometimes it is not an error of imagination,
but an error of attribution, the sensation of a cool breeze
being caused by the breath.

The sense of hearing has seemed to me to be refrac-

FRAUD AND ERROR 389

tory to suggestion in seances, though it does not
altogether escape. I know of very few examples of
imagined raps or noises.

On the contrary, the muscular sense is one of the
most unfaithful. Unless one has experimented oneself,
it is impossible to imagine how frequent unconscious and
involuntary movements are. These movements are of
very feeble amplitude ; they are slight, but they end by
acquiring a certain amount of force. It will then be
noticed that the assistants accuse each other reciprocally
of pushing the table, and it is not rare to see angry
discussions arise on these occasions. This is a frequent
fact of observation. I have also very frequently noticed
tactile hallucinations with impressionable experimenters,
who easily imagine diverse contacts.

The sense of smell sometimes perceives imaginary
odours, but it is somewhat rare. I have not observed
any hallucinations of taste.

Another cause of error which requires pointing out is
fatigue on the part of the experimenters. Every pheno-
menon which is produced after a long period of waiting
stands many chances of being badly observed. The
attention kept for a long time on the qui vive becomes
weary, gives place to abstraction, and often the pheno-
mena takes the experimenters by surprise ; hence they
are unable to examine the conditions with certitude. It
is also bad to hold very long seances, fatigue quickly
setting in.

Such are the principal causes of positive errors ; that
is to say, of errors tending to persuade one of the
existence of an imaginary fact ; negative errors, that is
to say, those which tend to make one look upon a real

390 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

fact as an imaginary one, are not less dangerous than
positive errors.

In the first place, parti pris is to be pointed out. If
we wish to experiment with success, we must experiment
without credulity, without faith, even without confi-
dence ; but we must not be determined only to meet
with fraud.

We must not experiment naively. If, at the beginning
of a seance, it be useful to allow freedom in order to put
the force en train^ as Ochorowicz wisely recommends,
once the phenomena are established, we must control them
with the greatest care. But we should make our in-
tentions known to the medium and to the personification.
This, I think, is an indispensable precaution. The
personification will always consent to it ; but this does
not mean we will always obtain the wished-for result.
We must not allow the medium or the personification
to think we are their dupes if they fraud ; we must
tell them, gently but clearly, that they are not giving
anything good. Equivocation is to be carefully avoided,
all misunderstanding is to be shunned.

We must not, however, place the medium under such
conditions that the experiment cannot be realised. We
do not understand these conditions, and, perhaps, appar-
ently simple phenomena may not be realisable. I re-
member that at Choisy in 1896, a lady, a member of my
family — she has an insurmountable bias against psychical
experiments, which she declares a priori are fraudulent —
declared to Eusapia that she would believe in her pheno-
mena, if she could make a doll's table move before her
eyes. Eusapia placed this small table on top of the
seance-table, but did not succeed in making it move.

FRAUD AND ERROR 391

Why could not such an apparently simple phenomenon
be obtained ?

We must, therefore, observe, but we must not wish
to impose beforehand the conditions which the pheno-
menon should fulfil in order to be accepted.

Many experimenters tie up the medium, put him into
a sack, and seal him therein. If he consents to this, well
and good ; if he refuses, other means of control must be
found. We must not indeed suppose that the medium's
refusal is always due to a desire to fraud. The slightest
fetters may sometimes be very painful, especially when
there be cutaneous hyperassthesia.

Before bringing a negative judgment to bear upon the
phenomena, the experimenters should always hold a
certain number of seances, and should not found their
judgment upon one bad seance alone ; by so doing they
would expose themselves to a wrong course of action.

It is especially in psychical experimentation that in-
exhaustible patience is necessary.

392 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

CONCLUSION

And now my task is accomplished. I perceive that in
the latter part of my work, I have broached complex
and difficult problems, and have allowed myself to be
drawn into — not theorising — but combating certain
theories which appear to me to be incorrect or insuffi-
cient ; for which I beg my reader's pardon. In con-
clusion, I wish to repeat that I am convinced of having,
in a sure, positive manner, observed raps and movements
without contact. I have seen many other phenomena ;
but I will not venture to be so affirmative concerning
them, at present.

I make no pretension of demonstrating the reality of the
facts I have observed. In publishing my conclusions, I have
had but one object in view, that of bringing my testimony
to those, who, long before me, attested to the facts which
I in my turn affirm. Does that mean that I have not
been mistaken ? most assuredly, no ! And it is very
possible that my observations may have been imperfect.
I am, nevertheless, so convinced of their exactness, that
I can only advise those who may impugn the accuracy of
my statements, to experiment as I have done, with the
same method, and the same patience. I have had many
occasions to pronounce these words in the course of my
work, and now in terminating it, I pronounce them
once again with stronger emphasis than ever.

CONCLUSION 393

I doubt, though, whether my voice will be heeded,
where others, more influential than mine, have remained
unheard. However, I do not regret having expressed
my opinion about these facts. I am persuaded, that
some day, -perhaps very soon, they will come under
scientific discipline, and this, in spite of all the obstacles
which obstinacy and fear of ridicule accumulate in the
way.

One of these obstacles, and it is not the least, is due
to the fashion in which many savants estimate mediums.
Their judgment is summed up in such expressions as
hysteric, cheat, physically or morally tainted, degenerates.
Such a judgment is iniquitous, absurd and false in its
generality, and baneful in its consequences. It is
founded upon a deplorable error, for I know mediums
who possess faculties superior to the average, and who
present absolutely no stigma of degeneracy. I have
said, and I cannot repeat it too often, my finest pheno-
mena were obtained with subjects who were sound and
healthy in mind and body. It is with hysterical subjects
that we observe fraud, side by side with gleams of true
phenomena ; but with a medium who has no nervous
taint, whose well-balanced intelligence knows how to offer
resistance to self-suggestion, and ridee fixe^ we have real
phenomena or none at all.

The opinion of savants, who, ill acquainted with the
facts, inform us that mediums are hysterics and victims
of nervous disorders, is therefore erroneous ; unfor-
tunately the consequences of such an opinion are
lamentable. I know many remarkable subjects who
absolutely refuse to experiment outside a tested and
restricted group, because they fear to be regarded as

394 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

neurotics ; they are afraid of being stigmatised as insane,
they are afraid of compromising their commercial posi-
tion or their professional interests. I will never succeed
in convincing them that they are above the average ;
doubtless I will succeed still less in inducing others to
believe it : though in many respects it be true. If the
relative perfection of their nervous system renders these
persons more sensitive than the average, it would be wrong
to conclude thereupon, that they were degenerate speci-
mens of humanity. This argument is lacking in common-
sense ; we might just as reasonably insist that Europeans
are in degeneration, because they are more emotional and
more sensitive to pain than certain savage tribes. How
ignorant, tactless, and incautious we are ! The attitude
of certain learned centres — it is with intention that I do
not say the most cultured — is, to me, similar to that of
ecclesiastical authorities in the middle ages. The novelty
of a thing frightens them. They treat independent
scientific thought as the inquisitors treated free thought
in days gone by. Like their prototypes of other times,
they have the same intolerance, the same hate for schism
and heresy. Their accumulated errors ought to make
them cautious : but, no ! If they no longer make a
pariah of the arch-heretic or schismatic, if they no
longer deliver him up to the executioner, they treat him
with the same relative vigour. They excommunicate
him, in their fashion, and cast him out of sane healthy
humanity as a degenerate, a mystic, an exalte. The
future will have the same opinion of them as we have,
to-day, of their predecessors. Their attitude prevents
the most cultured, the most capable mediums from
allowing their psychic faculties to become known. If

CONCLUSION 395

these mediums spoke of visions, a douche would be
recommended ! If they caused a table to move without
contact, the words hysteria and fraud would be heard.
Is it surprising they should hide their gifts ?

We ought to consider mediums as precious beings,
as forerunners of the future type of our race. Why
should we only see degeneracy around us .'' Why should
we not see superior beings ahead of us, beacons, as it
were, on the route we have to follow ? Does not simple
common-sense suggest that humanity has not yet arrived
at perfection — that it is evolving to-day just as it has
always been doing .? All men have not attained the same
degree of evolution. As there are types representing
the average state of former days, so there are advanced
types representing to-day the average state of the future.
The progress of the race seems to make for perfection
along the lines of the nervous system, in the acquisition
of more delicate senses, of greater nervous sensibility,
and of vaster means of information. If the discovery of
implements, new instruments of investigation, such as
the telescope and microscope, for example, aid in the
progress of the race, they are of no use for the evolution
of the individual himself. Now, veritable progress is
individual ; it is the improvement of the individual which
assures the evolution of the race, and this progress should
be determined by heredity. Do what we will, we shall
never be born with a microscope at the eyes, and a
telephone at the ears. Progress of this kind is not
transmissible ; only physiological acquisitions are trans-
missible. The sensibility of the nervous system of
mediums is a progress on our relative obtuseness ; it
is not the same thing with the bad sight of him who

396 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

makes an improper use of the microscope. If Virchow
were still alive, there would be many disagreeable things
to be said to him, concerning the inaptitude of the
ordinary type of savant to personify the desirable pro-
gress of the race towards health, force, sensibility, and
the perfect form.

The intolerance of certain savants is equalled by that
of certain dogmas. To take an example, Catholicism
considers psychical phenomena as the work of the devil !
Is it worth while at this hour to discuss so obsolete a
theory .? I think not. However, superior ecclesiastical
authorities, with the tact and sentiment of opportunism
which they often show, permit many Catholics to under-
take the experimental study of psychical facts. I cannot
blame them for recommending prudent abstention to
the mass of the faithful ; spiritism appears to me to be
an adversary with which they will have to reckon very
seriously some day. The simplicity of its doctrines
ensures it the clientele of simple souls enamoured of
justice, that is to say, of the immense majority of
mankind.

But this question is foreign to psychical facts them-
selves. As far as my experience permits me to judge
of them, these phenomena contain nothing but what is
natural. The devil does not show his hoof here,
timorous souls may feel reassured ; if the tables claim to
be Satan himself, they need not be believed ; summoned
to prove his power, this grandiloquent Satan will be
a sorry thaumaturgist. Religious prejudice, which pro-
scribes these experiments as being supernatural, is just
as little justified as scientific prejudice, which sees therein
nothing but fraud and imposture. Here, again, the

CONCLUSION 397

old adage of Aristotle finds its application : Justice lies
midway.

May my book determine a few experimenters of
goodwill to try to observe in their turn. May it help
to dispel from the mind of gifted mediums their fears of
being ranked with insane and disordered intelligences,
or looked upon as being in partnership with the devil.
May it especially contribute to make metapsychic
phenomena come to be considered as natural facts, worthy
of being usefully observed, and capable of enabling us
to penetrate more deeply than any other phenomena into
a real knov/ledge of the laws which govern Nature.

398 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

APPENDIX A

An Appreciation on Certain Documents published
on the subject of Fraud.

The question of fraud is so important that I feel I should not
only give the results of my own observations, but also my
appreciation of some of the principal documents published on
the subject.

With the exception of Richet and a few others, representa-
tives of science in France are very ill informed on this question,
as I have endeavoured to show. They overlook the immense
work which has been done in the United States and in England ;
consequently it is very difficult to discuss the question with
these savants, they are either ignorant or feign to be ignorant
of what others have done. I have shown that their experiments
are defective and their methods open to criticism.

U all serious discussion be impossible with certain savants, it is
not so with those who have taken the trouble to verify psychic
phenomena for themselves. This is the case with the principal
members of the Society for Psychical Research, Crookes, Lodge,
Barrett, Myers, Sidgwick, Gurney, Podmore, Hodgson, Hyslop,
and others. The first three are persuaded of the reality of the
facts observed by them. The others have a tendency to attri-
bute to fraud all physical phenomena ; they admit, on the other
hand, intellectual phenomena, and explain them either by tele-
pathy as Mr. Podmore does, or by the intervention of spirits
as spiritists themselves do, though they were at one time the
latter's adversaries ; this is notably the case with Myers, Hodgson,
and Hyslop. The great respect I have for the remarkable men
who direct the Society for Psychical Research, obliges me to

APPENDIX A 399

examine their experiments very carefully, for their judgment has
a great value in my eyes ; at the same time, I have too much
regard for the research of truth to conceal from them the errors
of experimentation, vi^hich they appear to me to have committed.

In the fourth volume of the Proceedings vv^ill be found a series
of papers by Mrs. Sidgwick, Messrs. Lewis, Hodgson, and Davey
upon fraud. The last-named deal particularly with the produc-
tion of direct slate-writing. This phenomenon is very easy to
simulate ; it suffices to read the papers mentioned, especially
Davey's document, to understand under what suspicious condi-
tions the phenomenon was produced.

A long time ago I myself artificially produced this kind of
manifestation by fixing a pencil into a hole in the table, and
thereupon moving the slate about. With practice a certain
amount of facility can be acquired ; you can write fairly well
and give regularity to apparently spasmodic and involuntary
movements ; but only inexperienced or credulous people are
taken in by this trick ; and though they may be more compli-
cated, Mr. Davey's methods are not by any means more difficult
to expose.

I wonder how a man of Dr. Hodgson's intelligence could have
based his judgment upon such superficial observations as those
of the experimenters he cites. Here are men, without doubt
honourable and well educated, who hold seances with the object
of obtaining direct slate-writing through Mr. Davey. Instead
of taking the elementary precaution of never abandoning their
slates, they allow the medium to manipulate them, permit him
to leave the seance-room for a moment, consent to allow other
slates than their own to remain on the table at the same time as
those which are used for the experiment, and lastly when they
examine, only examine it on one side. This is not mal-observa-
tion, it is absence of observation. (See R. Hodgson, ' Mr. Davey's
Imitations by Conjuring of Phenomena sometimes attributed to
Spirit Agency,' Proceedings^ vi. 253.)

Mr. Davey has also produced raps and materialisations fraudu-
lently. It is necessary to read, in Dr. Hodgson's paper, the

400 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

conditions under which he operated to see what ill-placed con-
fidence his co-experimenters had in him (Davey). They do not
verify, although they are invited to do so, the contents of a
trunk precisely where the material essential to fraud was con-
cealed ; they allow Mr. Davey to close the door of the room :
he gives two turns of the key, the one locking, the other
unlocking the door, which is carelessly sealed with gummed
paper; no one thinks of verifying if the door is well closed.
The most elementary precautions are neglected by the assistants
who, one would really think, had been chosen by Mr. Davey for
their very credulity. Frauds as easy to prevent as those from
which Dr. Hodgson draws his argument, cannot be considered
as being able to take in a prudent, shrewd observer, accustomed
to experimentation, and knowing how to preserve a little sang-
froid. Was it not enough that the medium should have asked one
of the observers : ' What do you want the spirit to write on the
slate ? In what colour do you want the writing to appear ? ' for
these very questions alone to suggest imposture ? Dr. Hodgson's
argumentation is inoperative, and the faults, accumulated by the
deceived observers whose impressions he cites, are excessive.
One would think he had had to do with very convinced spiritists,
inclined to admit a priori the reality of the forthcoming pheno-
mena without troubling themselves about the precise conditions
of their observations ; this is what the perusal of the reports of
these seances makes one think, for I read textually (p. 296) :
*It may be interesting to compare the reports given by
spiritualists of a sitting with Mr. Davey with his account of
what really occurred.' Can one draw an argument from these
accounts of spiritists ? Some spiritists, convinced of the reality
of the facts, appear to care very little indeed about any sort of
control. To reason from their methods of observation, to
generalise this reasoning and to extend it to all observers, is
rather too easy a form of discussion.

There are certain phenomena which lend themselves badly to
observation : this is particularly the case with those which
require obscurity and arrangements of a nature likely to hinder

APPENDIX A 401

or interfere with the best control which can be exercised, that of
the eyesight. In my opinion the phenomenon has no demon-
strative value whenever it occurs out of sight, as is the case with
slate-writing, when the slate is held under the table. Neither
has it any great signification when it requires sustained observa-
tion in order to control it. Errors are easy, for abstraction
almost inevitably follows, if it does not accompany, sustained
attention. Hodgson, in 'The Possibilities of Mal-Observation and
Lapse of Memory from a Practical Point of View ' [Proceedings^
iv. 381) gives examples of this, but his paper only points out
facts well known to those who are familiar with human testi-
mony. In order to observe with a minimum chance of error,
the phenomenon we intend to study should be simple, and
repeated often enough to prevent the attention from becoming
weary from waiting. P rom this point of view, the production
of raps and telekinetic movements with the aid of the experi-
mental manoeuvres I have described, permit, by specifying the
moment when the phenomenon is going to occur, of bringing
the whole attention to bear upon the examination of the con-
ditions under which the phenomenon is obtained. Raps and
movements without contact appear to me to lend themselves
admirably to observation ; with these phenomena, by operating
as I have indicated, experimentation is almost possible; but a
veritable medium must be sought for in the first instance.

Now this is what my colleagues of the Society for Psychical
Research did, but they did so under conditions which were far
from satisfactory, Mrs. Sidgwick, a woman of brilliant intellect,
has given an account of the attempts made by herself, her
husband, and friends to obtain psychical phenomena. They
went to Eglinton and Slade for slate-writing, to the Misses
Wood and Fairlamb and a Mr. Haxby for materialisations.
The first two gave phenomena which were suspicious, not to
say worse ; as for Haxby, he frauded shamefacedly. Mrs.
Sidgwick's account is demonstrative on this point, and it is
enough to read it to be convinced that no shrewd observer could
be taken in.

2 C

402 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

The first mistake, committed by the distinguished members
of the Sidgwick group, was to suppose that psychical phenomena
can be obtained at will. Whenever a paid medium gives regular
seances, there are a hundred chances to one of downright fraud.
If there be a positive feature in these supernormal facts, that
feature in my opinion is their apparent irregularity. I have
been able to experiment with intelligent, well-educated mediums
anxious for a thorough investigation of their powers : I have
made very many experiments with them, and I have observed
that often whole weeks passed away without a good seance ;
at other times, the force was so abundant that phenomena
were forthcoming without seance. I have related some curious
facts in this respect, e.g. the table moving spontaneously in the
course of a conversation bearing upon psychical phenomena
(p. io6).

What are the conditions which impede or favour the produc-
tion of this unknown mode of energy ? I cannot specify them ;
but I think I have noticed concordances, which confirm in a
measure the conclusions of Ochorowicz [Annales des Sciences
Psychiques, vi. 115) : —

1. Action of temperature. Dry cold weather is the most
favourable. Damp or close weather is most unfavourable.

2. Health of the medium and sitters. If the medium does
not feel well, things happen as though he exteriorised no force
whatever. It is the same thing with the sitters, but in a lesser
degree ; in the latter case it suffices to eliminate the experimenter
who feels ill.

3. Mental condition of the medium and sitters.^ Ill-humour,
anxiety, sadness — especially a sadness without any specific cause,
a kind of mental discomfort — are prejudicial. Joy, gaiety are
often favourable.

4. Nervous exhaustion. This condition is too often over-
looked. I have not unfrequently had occasion to conduct several
series of experiments at one and the same time. I generally
noticed that the results were not good. I have not been able to

1 There are apparent exceptions to this rule.

APPENDIX A 403

understand the cause of this want of success ; it is probably other
than that of simple nervous exhaustion, although this may have
an action in prolonged series of seances.

Neither do seances held too frequently with the same medium
give good results ; in this case, nervous exhaustion is certainly
in play.

The English experimenters do not appear to have taken these
diverse elements into consideration ; I am persuaded the results
of their investigations would have been different had they
shunned ' paid mediums,' and sought for fresh or undeveloped
mediums, persons uninfluenced by private considerations, intelli-
gent and capable of bringing a correct analysis of their subjective
impressions into the research. These mediums are rare, but
they are to be found.

None of these conditions were fulfilled by the Sidgwiclc group.
These experimenters, acting with the best of intentions, took a
wrong course. Eglinton, Slade, Haxby, have perhaps been
genuine mediums in their time, but as soon as they made it a
business to give regular seances, they were at once prepared to
give fraudulent phenomena with regularity. At Newcastle, the
group operated at one and the same time with Miss Fairlamb
and with Miss Wood. These two parallel series of experiments
could not help being prejudicial one to the other, even if these
two mediums had been honest, which does not appear to have
been the case, judging from Mrs. Sidgwick's account.

I cannot think of discussing in detail all the experiments of
the Sidgwick group ; but I will study their experiments with
Eusapia Paladino at Cambridge more carefully, for their judg-
ment on this medium appears to me unjustified. Every one
knows under what conditions Messrs. Myers, Hodgson, Sidg-
wick, etc., invited Eusapia to England, in order to resume
experiments previously made with her at Ribaud. These
experiments had obtained a favourable report from Dr. Lodge ;
Mr. Myers and Mr. Sidgwick associated themselves with Dr.
Lodge's conclusions. Dr. Hodgson — who is a doctor of law
and not a doctor of medicine, as some people suppose — criticised

404 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the experiments summarised by Dr. Lodge. He was met with
the reply that his criticisms contained nothing new ; that what
he said had been already pointed out by Richet and others, and
that the experimenters were acquainted with every possible
system of fraud ; that the substitution of one hanr" for another,
the substitution of an artificial foot for the mediui s foot, were
well-known systems of imposture, against which every pre-
caution had been taken. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding
the fact that the report had been drawn up by such competent
men as Richet, Ochorowicz, Lodge, and Myers, it was criticised
with an undeniable appearance of logic and justice by Hodgson :
the latter reproached them for insufficiently describing the
manner in which the diverse controls were ensured, for omitting
to dwell upon the precautions which were taken, and for the
lack of a minute description of all the movements of the medium.
In his article [Journal^ vii. 49) he expressly says : —

* Professor Lodge makes the following declaration concerning
the raising of the table : —

'"It appears to me impossible for any person to lift a table of
this size and weight while standing up to it, with hands only
on top, without plenty of leg action, and considerable strength
and pressure of hands. It was quite beyond the possibility of
Eusapia."

' Now let us suppose,' continues Hodgson, ' that Eusapia
used a form of support which, with some variation or
other, I fancy is not altogether unknown in the Italian race.
Let us suppose that she had, next to her body, a light strong
band round her shoulders and across her chest, with a pendant
attached of a black band or cord, with a hook or other catch at
the end which could be tucked out of sight in her dress front
when not in use. (By the way, in a photograph which I have
seen of Eusapia at a sitting, when the table is supposed to be
completely off the floor, one of the buttons of the bosom of her
dress seems to be unfastened.)

'She fixed this catch — either stooping or bending her legs
slightly outward — to one of the sideboards of the table, or to

APPENDIX A 405

some point in the neighbourhood of the junctures of, for ex-
ample, sideboards and top of table. She straightened herself
out, stiffened her shoulders and her body back, and pushed
forward with her foot against the leg of the table, close to which
she was standing. The light touch of one of her hands may
have helped to steady the table, the edge of which may also have
been in contact with her body. Was this hypothesis or any
kindred hypothesis tested by Professor Lodge r ' etc.

This long quotation shows how Hodgson reasons. Con-
scientious savants omitted to indicate, explicitly, in their report,
that every hypothesis of fraud had been studied and put to one
side ; they omitted to analyse each hypothesis, because their
implicit affirmation of the reality of the fact appeared sufficient
to them, and a detailed examination of each hypothesis would
have given exaggerated dimensions to their report. No matter.
Analysts like Dr. Hodgson will not spare them, and will not
hesitate to indicate hypotheses, even those the least compatible
with the conditions of observation.

However, the Cambridge experiments were decided upon, and
although Hodgson had taken a decided stand in the matter, he
was invited to assist. These experiments gave bad results, and
Sidgwick was able to say, in spite of the contrary observations
of other experimenters, who were his colleagues in the Society
for Psychical Research {journal S. P. R.^ vii. 230) : ' It will
be seen that at our last meeting a question was asked with
regard to " phenomena " obtained by Eusapia Paladino sub-
sequent to the exposure of her frauds at Cambridge. It may
be well that I should briefly state why I do not intend to give
any account of these phenomena.

' It has not been the practice of the Society for Psychical
Research to direct attention to the performances of any
so-called " medium " who has been proved guilty of systematic
fraud. Now, the investigation at Cambridge, of which the
results are given in the "Journal for November 1895, taken
in connection with an article by Professor Richet in the
Annalcs des Sciences Psychiques, for January -February 1893,

4o6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

placed beyond reasonable doubt the facts that the frauds dis-
covered (sic) by Dr. Hodgson at Cambridge, had been
systematically practised by Eusapia Paladino for years. In
accordance, therefore, with our established custom, I propose
to ignore her performances for the future, as I ignore those of
other persons engaged in the same mischievous trade.'

Such a judgment made a considerable and lamentable stir : if
it u^ere exact, it was just to pronounce it ; if it were not
thoroughly exact, Sidgwick should have suspended his verdict.
This is what Myers advised — this is what Lodge and Richet
advised. But the experimenters who followed Hodgson's im-
pulse did not do this. They made a mistake, and subsequent
events have proved they were wrong.

I have said that their judgment was not quite accurate.
Professor Sidgwick said, addressing a general meeting of the
Society for Psychical Research on the nth October 1895
{Journal S. P. R., vii. 131) :—

' I consider it to be proved beyond a doubt that the medium
used systematic trickery throughout this series of sittings. Her
modus operandi I will leave to Dr. Hodgson to describe, who —
though only present during a part of the sittings — has had
better opportunities for personally observing the actual process
of fraud. When this trickery was discovered, the greater part
of the phenomena offered as supernormal at these sittings were
at once explained ; and, this being so, I think it, in the circum-
stances, unreasonable to attribute — even hypothetically — to
supernormal agency the residuum that was not so easily
explicable. And considering the great general resemblance
between the performances of the medium at these sittings and
those I witnessed last year, I am now disposed to think that my
earlier experiences are to be similarly explained ; I therefore
wish to withdraw altogether the limited and guarded support
which I gave last year to the supernormal pretensions of Eusapia
Paladino.'

So Sidgwick declares that his former experiments were null
and void, as everything could be explained by trickery !

APPENDIX A 407

Hodgson, at that same general meeting, explained the means
used by Eusapia, the surreptitious freeing of foot and hand, and
some simple apparatus such as a handkerchief and a small object,
such as a coin or a piece of paper, covered with some phos-
phorescent preparation. Hodgson — and Myers reminded him
of this — forgot to say that he had invented nothing, and that
these trick devices had been discovered and previously pointed
out by others, notably by Richet, who has often experimented
with Eusapia Paladino. Sidgwick remarks that a portion of the
phenomena are not easily explicable by fraud. It would have
been interesting to know which. I suspect that certain levita-
tions were among the number of these phenomena. But the
notes published in the "Journal S. P. R., vii. 148, only
mention attoiichetnents^ and it is advisable to limit the discussion
to this fact, though it appears to me the least demonstrative.

Let us take the seance of the ist September. We read p. 153 :
'7.25. — R. H. says, phenomenon preparing. Enormous hand
shaking Mrs. Mh head^ hand clearly felt. H. S., hand well held,
but not completely. R. H. has hand completely held, gap and
then grasp again. Hand holds H. S. well. Right hand, thumb
and finger clutch R. H. (On nearly all occasions after the first
few hand-touch phenomena, I informed the sitters of a coming
phenomenon in some such words as that a phenomenon was
preparing, before the phenomenon actually occurred, and usually
immediately prior to its occurrence. I made this announcement
as a rule when I felt the right hand leaving mine, but some-
times when I felt it preparing to leave. After the phenomenon
was over, and the hand returned, I described usually what I felt
at the moment of my description, so that E. might not become
aware, through some partial appreciation of my English, that I
knew that her hand was away from mine during the production
of the phenomenon. In some cases, when it was necessary, I
added a few words about the state of holding during the pheno-
menon.) '

I confess that I do not understand. Hodgson has shown him-
self so severe for others, that he will not be annoyed with me

4o8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

for exacting the same precision from him that he requires of
others. Now, in the passage quoted, we read : first, that Mrs.
Myers is touched by an enormous hand, a hand which is 'clearly
felt.' Either it is Eusapia's hand, released by Hodgson, in which
case it ought to be 5;«(?//, for Eusapia's hand is small, or Mrs.
Myers did not ' clearly feci ' the hand which shook her. If Mrs.
Myers has correctly described her impression, then Hodgson
makes a mistake in seeming to indicate that it is Eusapia's hand
which touched Mrs. M. ; if not, then Mrs. M. has made a
mistake. At any rate, there is a contradiction here between the
two observers.

Sidgwick acknowledges that Eusapia's tricks do not explain
everything, yet he allows Hodgson to expatiate complacently
upon fraudulent attouchcments. The learned lawyer even
mimicked Eusapia's tricks for freeing her hands and feet before
members of the Society for Psychical Research. But all this was
already known by Continental specialists. Hodgson had invented
nothing; why did he confine himself to partial criticisms? why
did he not discuss each fact, and especially those which appeared
inexplicable ? He is very severe with Eusapia ; why not treat her
as he treats Mrs. Piper ? He carefully discusses the Neapolitan's
errors and attempts ; but does he think that there is no conscious
or unconscious fraud with the American medium, and that defunct
Phinuit is alone responsible for the inaccuracies and falsehoods
observed in Mrs. Piper's mediumship, whilst Eusapia's fraud is
conscious and voluntary ?

As far as his experiments with Eusapia Paladino are concerned,
I will reply to him that, in a great measure, he and his friends were
responsible for her frauds, and almost wholly responsible for the
failure of the experiments. They appear to have neglected the
psychological side of a medium's role, and forgot that a medium
is not a mechanical instrument.

Eusapia was not at her ease, and, if my memory serves me
right, she found the Cambridge centre rather disdainful and
haughty, save Mr. and Mrs. Myers. She was dull and lonely.
I think she was not admitted to the same table. But I will not

APPENDIX A 409

affirm this detail ; it seems to me she told me, she was usually
served apart from the members of the household.

The seances were too numerous (there were twenty seances
held in less than seven weeks — a seance every other day) if we
take into consideration her not being very well, and consequently
unfit for anything for a few days. This was making sure of
bad results, especially as the seances sometimes lasted two and
a half to three hours. It was impossible for the medium to
recruit her strength physically or morally, especially in a country
where the manners, life, language, and even the cooking were
so different from those at Naples. She was not well when in
England. Was she long ill ? I cannot say ; but I can affirm
that she did not go home satisfied.

It appears, however, that the first seances were pretty good ;
there were some suspicious things, as is often the case with
Eusapia. Hodgson's arrival changed everything : it was then
that fraud was discovered, but a long time after Richet and
Toselli had pointed it out.

How did Hodgson go to work ? He appears to have con-
ceived the singular idea not to control Eusapia at all, and to
leave at her free disposal the hand he was supposed to hold.
Every time he ceased to feel the contact of her hand, he announced
a phenomenon ; the phenomenon produced, he related his im-
pressions in English to his co-experimenters. These were two
capital mistakes. The first passed even unconscious fraud : for
though severe control sometimes stops the phenomena, at least
it effectually prevents trickery. The second, by arousing
Eusapia's jealous susceptibility, was bound to worry and irritate
her. These considerations may appear to be secondary to persons,
who are not acquainted with the difficulties which the observa-
tion of psychical phenomena present ; those who are familiar
with them will not gainsay me. However, if the Cambridge
experimenters had not gone any further than this, we might
excuse them, and simply consider they had blundered touching
the necessary conditions ; but they went further. They invited
to the seances Messrs. Maskelyne, father and son. These men,

4IO METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the well-known directors of the Egyptian Hall in London, have
made it a speciality of producing by conjuring the phenomena
called 'spiritistic'

Mr. Maskelyne, senior, did not conceal his bias, to judge by
his letters in the Daily Chroiticle (29th Oct. 1895, and following
days). This conjurer explained certain levitations in a singular
fashion. A small table had been carried on to the seance-table.
According to Maskelyne, Eusapia had seized it with her teeth
by bending backwards, and by this feat of dental strength had
herself carried and placed the smaller table on the larger one !
Mr. Maskelyne felt the movement, just as Dr. Hodgson
felt he had lost the contact of the hand, when a phenomenon
was going to be produced. From this negative observation,
Mr. Maskelyne, like Hodgson, deducts the positive conclusion,
that the phenomenon was normally and fraudulently produced.
I retain Mr. Maskelyne's affirmation, that the backward
movement Eusapia made when the small table was carried on
to the larger one, revealed her method to him. Hodgson
has the same impression as the conjurer. In concluding as
they do, they both forget this circumstance, often observed
with the Italian medium, that synchronous movements of her
limbs accompany the phenomenon. If Mr. Maskelyne is ex-
cusable in not having studied and examined this circumstance,
Dr. Hodgson, well acquainted with psychical matters, is un-
pardonable in having neglected it. This omission is a funda-
mental gap in his reasoning ; and I think it robs it of all serious
value.

Let us take another example in the rare indications given by
the Cambridge experimenters (Extracts from report of seance
of ist Sept. 1895, y^z/rw*?/, vii. 1 51-153): — [' The Report consists
of notes taken by Mr. Myers at the time from the dictation of
the sitters, with supplementary statements added by some of
the sitters afterwards ; these are placed in square brackets, and
all except those to which Mrs. Sidgwick's initials are appended
were written by Dr. Hodgson on Sept. 2nd and 3rd. The
italics refer to the descriptions of phenomena, the ordinary type

APPENDIX A

411

to the conditions of holding, etc.]. [Sitters arranged as
follows : —

F. D. Mrs. S.

E. P.

Miss S.

R. H.

H. S.

^ Mrs. Myers goes under the table, has the medium's feet on
palms of hands far apart.]

' 7. 6. Three knocks [which sounded as if made on the top of
the table]. Right hand lies across R. H. and holds H. S.'s three
fingers with at least two. Left hand holds F. D. and Mrs. S.
Three movements made with left hand beforehand. Knees not
moved and feet held tight. [Medium was asked to repeat this
phenomenon.]

*7. 7. Three knocks^ rather loud and dull [resembling the pre-
ceding]. Right hand moving, holding H. S.'s and R. H.'s.
Left hand well off the table ; holding satisfactory, held by F. D.
and Mrs. S. Feet well held, knees not moved.

' [Both series of three knocks were doubtless produced by
Eusapia's head. On the second occasion, I succeeded in getting
her head between me and a slight light from the curtains behind,
and observed the motion of her head part of the way forward
and back. She moved her right hand, with H. S.'s hand and
mine, forward, outward, and upward somewhat, and possibly
made a similar movement with her left hand, thus giving herself
a free space to bend her head forward and down, and at the same
time having the hands which were holding hers, in a position
from which it would be more difficult to grab.] [And had
practically six hands out of the way of an accidental contact with
her head. E. M. S.].'

412 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Such is the prous-vcrhal. Dr. Hodgson, I repeat, has been so
severe with others, that he will forgive me for being exigent
with him.

Is it admissible to reason in this way ? to consider that she
has, perhaps^ made a movement with the left hand similar to the
one effected with the right hand, and afterwards to hold that
supposition as a demonstrated fact ? Should he not have remem-
bered that such a movement, in a big woman like Eusapia, cannot
be easily made without her arms betraying the movement of the
spinal column, and the muscles of the neck, without the knees
revealing the movement of the body ?

Now, the knee did not move ; and Hodgson points out no
movement of the arm.

The movement of the head might have been one of those
synchronous movements of which I have spoken. Dr. Hodgson
has omitted to consider this hypothesis.

To sum up, limiting ourselves simply to published docu-
ments, we see that the English experimenters paid no attention
to the conditions under which it is expedient to operate, that
they tired out the medium, surrounded her with elements
of suspicion, encouraged her to fraud — Dr. Hodgson especially
— and finally concealed from her the severe judgment they
had formed about her. As Richet says, the Cambridge
experiments prove only one thing, which is, that in that
particular series of seances Eusapia frauded with her well-
known methods, but it is rash to conclude thereupon that she
has always frauded.^

^ ' A Cambridge Eusapia pendant une sifrie de se'anccs afraude' a'vcc ses precedes connus,
Voila la premiere conclusion. Et voici la seconde. En mettant Eusapia dans rimpossi-
hilite' de frauder, pendant cette meme se'rie d'expe'ricnces de Cambridge, Eusapia n^a pas pu
produire un seul phenomene •vrai . . ,

'II me parait qu'il est temeraire de conclure que tous les phenomenes produits ou
presumes produits par Eusapia sent faux, . . . Sous des influences morales et psycho-
logiques dont la nature nous echappe, pendant un tres long temps Eusapia est incapable
de pouvoir exercer une action vraie quelconque, et peut-etre, a Cambridge elle s'est
trouvee dans ces conditions . . . J'en conclus qu'il n'y a encore rien de demontre, ni
dans un sens, ni dans I'autre, et qu'il faut courageusement poursuivre la recherche ; et
experimenter encore.' — Charles Richet. {Journal S, P. R., vii. 1 79.)

APPENDIX A

413

The analysis of the documents published permits me to
ascertain : —

1. Demonstration of fraud in certain hypothetical cases.

2. Omission to indicate if the medium was conscious or in

trance.

3. Omission to discuss phenomena non-explicable by fraud.

4. Apparent contradiction between Dr. Hodgson's state-

ments and those of other experimenters.

5. Omission to analyse if Eusapia's suspicious movements

were not muscular movements synchronous with the
phenomena. This omission is capital, and demon-
strates the relative inexperience of the Cambridge
group.

6. Evident bias of Dr. Hodgson, who had taken up a

decided stand, and treated Eusapia's phenomena as
fraudulent before having seen them.

In a word, the Cambridge experimenters operated under bad
conditions : they could not obtain any good results by acting as
they did. But, even under these wretched conditions, they
ought to have received some veridical phenomena, and the
reading of their publications leads us to presume they did receive
some. In any case, their report does not demonstrate that
everything was explicable by fraud, and is not sufficient to
justify the sweeping judgment they brought to bear upon
Eusapia Paladino.

Now, if we compare the Cambridge results with those ob-
tained by other experimenters, the conclusion we draw from
these documents becomes more precise. I refer my readers to
the reports of the experiments at Milan [Ann. des Sc. Psych. ^
1893), ^"^ ^^ I'Agnelas [Ibid. i8g6). I will only dwell upon my
personal experience with Eusapia. I experimented with this
medium in 1895, 1896, and 1897, '^"'^ ^ obtained undeniable
phenomena with her.

Like other Continental experimenters, I tried to put Eusapia
at her ease, to win her confidence and sympathy ; and the
results of my seances were convincing.

414 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

At I'Agnelas, out of seance hours, and in full light, I saw the
table raised to the height of my forehead. Every one was
standing up, Eusapia's hands were held and seen ; her left hand,
held by me, rested on the right angle of the table.

At Choisy, in 1897, we received doubtful phenomena, notably
the apport of a carnation which appeared most suspicious to us ;
but we spoke openly of our doubts to Eusapia. At other times
the phenomena were of extraordinary intensity. One afternoon,
Sunday, nth October, all the sitters, even those furthest away
from the medium, were touched.

But it was at Bordeaux, perhaps, in 1897 that the phenomena
were most intense. I find in my notes — which are not, and
make no claim to be, reports — the following recital : —

' P. is vigorously touched. Eusapia gives him the control of her
hands and feet. P. receives slaps in the back every time Eusapia
presses his foot. The noise is distinctly heard. P.'s chair is
shaken and drawn from under him, Eusapia rubs her feet on
the floor, to give fluid, she says. Finally P.'s chair is slowly
carried on to the seance-table. The persons (Dr. Denuce,
Madame A., and I) for whom P. is between the table and the
window (a light from outside streams through the Persian
shutters) see the chair very clearly outlined on the window (a
large bay, six feet wide). After having been placed on the
table, the chair is taken back to the floor, and, a second time,
carried on to the table. The movements were slowly produced ;
while they were being produced, the hands, feet, and head of the
medium were under control. If any part of the medium's body
had touched the chair, the contact would have been seen on the
silhouette of the chair, the latter standing out well against the
lighted-up window. While the chair is in movement P. is
crouching down on his heels ; he is touched on the back, his
garments are pulled, he is tickled ; at the same time the table is
levitated. These three 7nanifestations tvere produced shnultaneously^
This phenomenon is, perhaps, the most convincing Eusapia
has given me in demi-obscurity ; it was impossible to produce
these three manifestations simultaneously with a free hand and

APPENDIX A 415

foot (admitting there had been substitution) : knowing the
possible frauds, I had indicated to my co-experimenters Eusapia's
ordinary tricks. Moreover, Dr. Denuce and P., a barrister at
Bordeaux, were both an courant with the usual frauds, and were
experienced experimenters. I draw special attention to the
visibility of the chair suspended in the air. We only saw the
outline of the chair, but we saw it plainly.

Here is another levitation obtained under conditions which
exclude every device pointed out by Messrs. Hodgson and
Maskelyne : teeth, strap, hook, foot, hand holding the table,
pressure of the knees, etc. : —

'Afterwards Eusapia makes us get up. She pulls the table
into the centre of the room (telling us she is doing this herself).
She invites M. to hold her feet j M. goes under the table.
Eusapia becomes impatient, and says to him " dietro " because the
table would hurt her ; M. stoops down behind Eusapia, and
seizes her by the feet. Eusapia then says she is going to raise
the table without touching it. A circle is made around the
table, which, after several oscillations, rises up vertically. The
top of the table reaches as high as our foreheads.

' A second time the table is levitated under the same conditions,
and to the same height. The experimenters are all standing up
around the table, and no hand at all touches it.'

The table stood out plainly against the window. It would
have been easy to see the limb or instrument which was in
contact with it, had there been any such contact.

Professor Sidgwick 'often asked Eusapia — or rather John — to
favour him with a hand-grasp when he was holding the two
hands of the medium in his two hands, since he regarded this as
the only mode of holding the hands which could ever be per-
fectly satisfactory to him.' He solicited in vain. Now we
obtained this phenomenon frequently : —

'Eusapia takes Dr. D.'s two hands, and gives him her two
hands to control. Under these conditions Dr. D. is touched.
Eusapia does the same thing with P., who is several times
touched.'

4i6 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Here are some phenomena obtained with a bright green light.
' One side of the table rises up, followed by two good levitations ;
the table is levitated to a height of about one foot six inches, and
remains from two to three seconds in the air. Eusapia's hands
are well controlled and visible ; her feet do not move. The
feet of the table (visible to me) are not in contact with Eusapia's
dress during the levitation. I see the dress distinctly ; it is
motionless. When the levitation took place no hand was
touching the table.'

Finally, here is a crucial experiment, an account of which
M. de Rochas has published in the Annates des Sciences Psychiques
in 1898. At that moment I still suspended my judgment, not
that my opinion with regard to the phenomena produced by
Eusapia and verified by me was uncertain, but because I wished
to study other mediums before pronouncing my judgment. My
studies are now sufficiently complete, from the point of view of the
observation of these facts, to permit me to declare my opinion.
The reasons of prudence, which led me to beg M. de Rochas to
withhold my name from his report, no longer exist. Here is the
extract from my notes made at the time of the experiment : —

'I had bought, during the day, a letter-balance, which I
brought to the seance. Eusapia makes us sit for two or three
minutes with our hands on the table. Then she approaches her
hands to the letter-balance, placing her left hand on top of
Dr. D.'s right hand. Dr. D. mentions the sensation of a cold
breeze, which ceases and recommences. Eusapia's hands are at
about fifteen centimetres away from the letter-balance. She
makes two or three ascending and descending movements with
her hands, palm directed downwards. At the second movement
the letter-balance is pushed to the limit of its course, requiring
for this a force of more than one hundred and seventy grammes.
Eusapia takes P.'s left hand, and tries the experiment with him.
She asks if he feels the cool breeze. In a few seconds P. feels it
over the third and fourth fingers. (P.'s left hand is under the
medium's right hand.) The tray is lowered, and the hand stops
at the division 20.

APPENDIX A 417

'Eusapia takes Dr. D's hand again. She forms a triangle
with her hands. Dr. D. has always his right hand in Eusapia's
left. The latter's hands are about fifteen centimetres away from
one another, and about ten centimetres away from the edge of
the apparatus. The tray of the latter is lowered ; the hand
marks 90 grammes, and sloiuly returns to o ; in the two pre-
ceding experiments it had returned abruptly.

' Eusapia tries to raise the scale. She directs her hands palms
upwards. The scale raises itself.

' P. puts a black pocket-book weighing seventy grammes on
the tray. Eusapia begins the last experiment over again. After
two or three movements of her hands, palms upwards, the tray
is raised to its uttermost limit.'

These experiments were made in a good green light.

In conclusion, we never hesitated to act openly with Eusapia,
telling her what we thought. For example, at one time, in
obscurity, Eusapia drew the table to her without announcing
it was she who did it. P. immediately said : 'It is the medium
who's drawing the table.' Eusapia was not annoyed, and said
that P. was right to speak of what he noticed.

These experiments at Choisy and Bordeaux, in the course of
which there were both good and bad seances, convinced me that
I had not been the victim of illusion at I'Agnelas in M. de Rochas'
house.

My judgment will convince no one. In such matters we
must see for ourselves in order to be convinced. Mr. Hodgson
himself knows this to-day. My testimony contradicts formally
and explicitly the conclusions of the Cambridge investigators.
Eusapia does not always defraud ; with us, she rarely defrauded.

Let me terminate this discussion with Richet's words : ' Mal-
gre les apparences qui sont en effet souvent centre Eusapia, je
ne suis fixe en aucune maniere sur ce que j'ai appele jusqu'ici
fraude. ... II est possible, que dans I'etat de trance, ou dans
les etats voisins, la psychologie d'un medium soit tres difFerente
de la notre.'

2 D

41 8 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

APPENDIX B

I HAVE criticised somewhat lengthily M. Janet's opinions :
will the reader kindly allow me to make yet another incursion
into scientific ground. For it is perhaps necessary to reply to
some objections which are advanced — doubtless in all sincerity
— by certain savants who are either ill informed, or lacking in
adequate knowledge of the subject. Professor Grasset of the
university of Montpellier, for whose talent and earnestness I
have the greatest respect, has just published a long article entitled
Le Spiritisme et la Science in the last volume of his Lemons de
clinique medicale (t. iv., 1903, p. 374). He begins by stating
that he is going to take Janet as his guide, because the latter's
' luminous ideas are and remain for him the sole scientific basis
now existing of these questions.' Though we see it in print,
this assertion is so extraordinary, that we wonder if we be not
dreaming when reading it. Professor Grasset, then, is going to
take Janet as a guide, Janet who has never seen anything ! It
makes one think of the fable, only, this time, it is the blind man
who climbs on the paralytic's back. Grasset is going to deal
with matters of such importance, so prolific probably in new
and unexpected consequences, without consulting the writers
who have described the phenomena he is going to study ! The
authors from whose works he quotes — Jules Bois, Papus,
Peladan, Mme. de Thebes, Leo Taxil ! — have more to do with
the charms of fancy than with the gravity of science. The
task of refuting their assertions is far too easy a one, and the
learned professor ought to have chosen other and better repre-
sentatives of psychical research. His argumentation falls short
of the mark.

Professor Grasset's case is, however, instructive. I consider
him as one of our best-informed scientists, and he seems to look
upon psychical research without prejudice. Nobody can doubt

APPENDIX B 419

his earnestness, his learning, his talent ; but, in spite of these
qualities, he shows himself to be unfamiliar with the serious
work which has been done, and which is being done in psychical
matters. When he quotes Myers, he misquotes him. When
he discusses the Piper case, he sums up the account given of the
case by M. Mangin in the Annales des Sciences Psychiques^ and
does not say a word of the careful reports drawn up by Hodgson
and Hyslop. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if the
professor's statements do not agree with the facts. He does
not appear to have studied either the original reports or
M. Sage's remarkable summary of these reports.

Professor Grasset simply says : ' Four months after the death
of Mr. Robinson (George Pelham), Mrs. Piper gave a seance in
the house of one of Mr. Robinson's friends and fell into a trance.'
[A slight mistake, the seance took place at Mrs. Piper's.] ' P., the
secondary personality, said that George Robinson was ready to
communicate ; and henceforth this spirit took part in Mrs.
Piper's seances as another familiar spirit. Such an example
shows how polygonal incarnations are formed during the medium's
trance.'

And no more ! Professor Grasset does not see the real
problem : did the medium show any knowledge of facts known
only to the deceased ? This is the problem. The mode of
formation of the secondary personality is but an accessory
question.

This kind of reasoning is common to savants. They keep
aloof from the real psychological problem, and only discuss its
side issues. I am sorry to see a man of Professor Grasset's
worth fall into the usual errors, and pronounce a judgment upon
facts before thoroughly acquainting himself with those facts.

Professor Grasset speaks of sp'iritisme scientifique as belonging
to the realm of biology, and demanding the serious attention of
scientists. But why speak of spiritism ? Spiritism is a religion,
it is not a science ; it is the systematic explanation of the ensemble
of certain facts, so far very ill understood, but it is not the
assertion of those facts. Are the alleged facts true ? That is

420 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

the question which biology has to examine. Spiritism, on the
contrary, that is to say, the ensemble of metaphysical doctrines
founded upon the revelations of spirits, cannot be considered,
at least for the present, as belonging to biology. I beg
Professor Grasset not to confound the impartial, unbiased
research for scientific truth with spiritism.

The little influence which the criticism of savants — of even
the most renowned among them — has had upon contem-
porary thought [e.g. it has not been able to prevent or put a
stop to the quest in the domain of psychical sciences), is due
precisely to their lack of correct information. They have
always reasoned beside the question, analysing the facts im-
perfectly, admitting only those which they can easily explain,
and rejecting all others as fraudulent or doubtful. To those
who have studied these ' fraudulent and doubtful ' facts, they are
neither doubtful nor fraudulent ^ and the only effect, which the
obstinate negation of certain savants has, is to rob their words of
all serious influence and value. And this is a pity, for the
savants themselves first of all, and afterwards for the public who,
ill enlightened, become the prey of charlatans or the victims of
illumines.

APPENDIX C

It is to the kindness of M. Braunschweig that I owe the
following story, which is instructive from several points of view.
M. Braunschweig, a retired business man, intelligent and
highly educated, is well known in his town. The phenomena,
of which he guarantees the authenticity, have not been observed
by me j but the disastrous consequences of his and M. Vergniat's
too great confidence in a 'spirit ' taught him such a useful and
serious lesson, that I thought I would do well to make it known.

APPENDIX C 421

I only give it with that object, for I cannot personally vouch for
the extraordinary facts in this interesting recital. I give this
recital in extensov^ithont changing anything, in order not to alter
its physiognomy.

A Mystery

Canius Junius when walking to the scaffold said to his friends: ' You ask me
if the soul is immortal ; I am going to find out, and if I can, I will return
to tell you/

These notes, written in haste, and, as it were, off-hand, have no
other claim than to bring a few strange facts together, leaving
every one free to appreciate them as they think best.

For a while I was swayed by a preoccupation ; I hesitated in
the face of incredulity, which thrusts aside all which is neither
matter nor number, to unveil phenomena of the nature of those
which have been verified by so many persons already ; but the
duty imposed upon me of preserving my children from trials
similar to mine, has triumphed over my hesitation, and I will
proclaim the truth without any fear of their ever doubting their
father's veracity.

In writing these lines, I yield to a feeling that the witness of
mysterious facts ought to give, in the interests of humanity or
science, a scrupulously exact narration of what he has seen.
And particularly so when his revelations are likely to preserve
the inexperienced from the pitfalls of an occult power which it
would be as senseless to deny the existence of as to doubt of its
power for good or evil, according as it desires good or evil. I
therefore accomplish what I believe to be a duty. This con-
viction suffices to brave the spirit always more or less strong,
which is ever inclined to deny what it cannot explain.

The fear of being accused of seeking for sympathy, by relat-
ing these facts of which I have been the victim, might also
have stopped me from speaking ; but for the loss of a few
worldly goods, my mind, my soul, finds ample compensation in

422 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

that certitude of a future life, which results from the facts the
Master permitted me to witness.

It was in 1867. Attracted by the noise of a trumpet, I
crossed La Place Saint-Andre^ and went down the dark, narrow
street which, at that time, skirted the Cathedral, and where
bric-d-hrac dealers used to spread out their wares. At the
corner of the street Palangues, I came across a crowd gathered
around an auctioneer who was holding a sale of statuary.

I was passing on indifferently when the auctioneer held up a
statuette, the outlines and graceful pose of which immediately
struck my fancy.

Was it a Virgin ? A 7nater dolorosa ? I do not know. But
I still see that beautiful face, stamped with sadness, the eyes
upraised, two great tears tremblingly seeming to implore me to
put a stop to this profanation. The general appearance of the
statue — its head bent slightly forward — and the graceful drapery
denoted a work of art.

I bought it, yielding simply to the desire of possessing an
artistic work, and not to satisfy any religious sentiment, which,
I must own, did not exist.

I also bought a bracket to support the statuette, and a few
minutes afterwards, everything was arranged in my room, Rue
du Palais Tallien, No. 147.

My wife, Madame Vergniat, was at Perigord. When she
returned home, she was surprised to see, in the most conspicuous
spot in my room, a religious object which I myself had bought.

Her surprise was legitimate, for strong prejudices against
religion left little room in my mind for religious practices.

Nothing strange happened in that house, although we lived
in it for a long time after the purchase of the statuette. But I
always felt such great pleasure in admiring my Virgin, that I
have often wondered whether this ill-defined attraction were
not the prelude, and, in some measure, a first influence of the
mysterious facts which were going to happen.

We left our residence in the Rue du Palais Tallien to go to a
house I had bought in the Rue Malbec, No. 116.

APPENDIX C 423

It was a detached house surrounded by a garden ; it contained
two bedrooms, a sitting-room, and a vestibule which served as
a dining-room.

In order to make my recital intelligible, I am obliged to give
a i&w details about the furniture and its arrangement.

A night-table separated my bed from the fireplace. Above
the table was a holy-water fount ; above the latter an oil
painting representing the Virgin ; finally, near the ceiling, the
statuette on its bracket.

To the left of the night-table, in the recess beside the chimney,
there was a panoply composed of swords and sabres.

When we were settled, Madame Vergniat again visited
Perigord. It was during her absence that the first manifestation
took place, but I attached no great importance to it.

Here are the circumstances under which the phenomenon
occurred.

I was awakened in the night by the sound of a violent blow
as of some one hammering at the front door. I promptly lit the
candle, and looked at the time ; it was one o'clock.

This visit was not of a reassuring nature, for, to be able to
knock at the front door at this hour of the night, it was neces-
sary to leap over the gate, which, securely closed, barred access
to the house.

Before proceeding to open the door, I waited for a second
knock, but in vain. I was awakened, at the same hour on the
following night, by a similar rap.

The nurse, sleeping with the children in the next room,
hearing the knock, got frightened. I tried to reassure her by
saying : ' To-ymrrow a loaded gun will receive the individual who
takes iuch a pleasure In arousing us.^

I underline these words, because further on we will have occa-
sion of seeing them repeated in a surprising manner.

A few months later, and without any new incidents occurring
in the meantime, our nurse was discharged, and replaced by a
strong healthy girl from the Pyrenees.

The nocturnal visit had been quite forgotten, when on the

424 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

23rd January 1868, Madame Vergniat and the nurse, who
were busy in my room, heard something like a rustling on the
window-panes, and saw the statuette bow twice, as though
saluting them. At first they thought an earthquake had hap-
pened, and when I entered they related the incident to me in
scared tones.

The statuette was indeed displaced ; but was that sufficient
to convince me ? No.

I laughed at the story, convinced that my wife and the nurse
were victims of an illusion.

However, on the morrow and following days, the same phe-
nomena occurring at the same hour, that is to say towards
eleven o'clock in the morning, I determined to stay at home
and verify de visu this marvellous fact.

I got what I wanted ; for on that day, the statuette turned
about now to the right, now to the left, twelve or fourteen times.
Sometimes it advanced and balanced itself on the edge of the
pedestal.

The evolution was so prompt and so unexpected, that the eye
could scarcely follow the movement.

I was not long in ascertaining that, before executing these
movements, the mysterious power awaited the moment when
the attention, tired of remaining on the qui vive^ was off its
guard. Then a sharp sounding rap, similar to the discharge of
an electric spark, denoted that the evolution had taken place.

The picture hanging under the statuette lost its equilibrium,
the benitier fell over, and the swords swayed about like so many
clock pendulums.

I noticed that the presence of my wife and the nurse aided
these manifestations considerably ; I even noticed that the
appearance of either of them on the threshold of the room
sufficed to provoke the phenomena.

I tried to dissimulate the preoccupation these manifestations
caused me, and I pretended to attach no importance to them,
in order to react against the exaltation and fear which were
taking hold of Madame Vergniat and the nurse, and of the

APPENDIX C 425

two work- women, who were also constant witnesses of this
disorder.

But instead of aiding me in my eftorts, the Virgin no
longer contented herself with simple evolutions on her pedestal.
She began to let herself fall down on the eiderdown of my bed,
and would remain buried there until a sharp sounding rap
announced that she had returned to her pedestal.

In a short time, the raps became more frequent, and did not
always indicate displacements. We heard them on the doors, on
the cupboards, etc., and even in the middle of the garden.

Thus on returning home one day, such a formidable rap
resounded, that the neighbours ran to their windows, and called
out to me: 'Well, M. Vergniat, one would think you were
being saluted.'

These facts, already so extraordinary, were to be succeeded by
others more extraordinary still.

The watchmaker, M. Ouvrard, who wound up our clocks
every fortnight, having at one time taken up the study of
somnambulism, thought he recognised in our nurse a subject
who would be susceptible to magnetic influences, and proposed
putting her to sleep.

A few minutes sufficed to obtain the state of prostration and
insensibility which characterises magnetic sleep. For the first
few seances, Marie's replies were unintelligible, but she very soon
began to express herself clearly and even with volubility.

Considering the state of mind the manifestations of the
statuette kept us in, it will be readily understood that the first
question put to the somnambulist was, 'Do you see who it is
who moves the Virgin about ? '

' I see him,' she replied, ' he is close to me on his knees,
praying. It is a man dressed in a brown coat, holding a dark-
covered book in his hand. I do not see his face. I only see a
part of his moustache, for he is turning his back to me.'

For several days her answers were always the same. But
having insisted upon knowing the name of the man in prayer,
the somnambulist at last replied, ' I am Madame's father.'

426 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

However, this assertion was soon contradicted by a more
explicit declaration.

It was so easy to produce the magnetic sleep with Marie,
that, once when she asked me to put her to sleep, I succeeded
in doing so without having any other notions about such things
than those I had gathered from our few seances ; but I found it
impossible to awaken her, and was obliged to send for the
watchmaker, hoping he would help me out of my dilemma.
He arrived, but his efforts were in vain.

The somnambulist made fun of us, and teased the watchmaker
about his embonpoint.

This fact is to be noted, for it contradicts the current belief
that the subject obeys the will of the magnetiser : but what
follows reveals a phenomenon of vastly different interest.

Marie ceased to speak in her own name. A spirit having
taken possession of her will, declared that all our efforts to
awaken the somnambulist would be useless.

*I am quite comfortable here,' said the spirit, 'and it pleases
me to stay. But at four o'clock, I am wanted elsewhere ; the
somnambulist will then awaken of her own accord. Have the
patience to wait.'

At the hour mentioned, at the exact moment, the somnam-
bulist returned to her normal state.

From that day forth the somnambulist remained constantly
under the influence of the spirits who took possession of her
during her sleep. Thus, as soon as she was asleep, the spirit
sometimes said, ' I have only a ie.-w minutes to stay ' ; and when
the time was up, Marie would awaken without any intervention.

During these more or less lengthy conversations, the spirit
took a fancy to calling me his son. His advice testified to a
disposition of great benevolence, and was chiefly of a profoundly
religious character. It is incontestable that, by an inexplicable
phenomenon, Marie's faculties were replaced, during these
communications, by a spirit whose superiority it was impossible
not to recognise, a superiority revealed by the tone of the discus-
sion and the choice of expressions.

APPENDIX C 427

Pressing him one day for an explanation, I resolutely asked
him, ' But who are you, then ? '

' I am he, you wanted to receive with a loaded gun, when I
knocked at your door at one o'clock in the morning.'

Remember the somnambulist was absolutely ignorant of this
fact, as she was not in our service when the strange nocturnal
visit occurred.

As for the Virgin, she was not at a standstill all this time ;
she continued to turn five or six times every day.

The good advice of the spirit, the purity of his principles, most
certainly interested me ; but I confess the statuette interested
me more. Had I not a tangible, undeniable fact before me,
just as stubborn as my reason tried to be ? Stamping my feet I
repeated, ' And still she turns.'

Ever on my guard, even in face of evidence, I gave myself
the satisfaction of imprisoning the Virgin, but in such a way
as to be able to verify her evolutions.

I had a niche of wire made, covered with transparent gauze,
and, sealing it to the wall, I securely shut up the statuette
therein.

My work done, I left my room. At once a formidable rap
resounded : I ran to the room, everything had disappeared, the
pedestal alone was still in its place. The Virgin, thrown on
to the bed, was found buried in the eiderdown, whilst the casing
was at the side of the bed.

My precautions having incurred displeasure, 1 took care not
to renew them. When consulted on this, the next day, the
somnambulist, or rather the spirit acting through her, said, ' Never
touch the Virgin, leave her there ; otherwise she will be
transferred,' adding, ' he who takes her away from her pedestal
will know very well how to put her back again.'

This recommendation was followed ; but one day the statuette
disappeared. Madame Vergniat having quite got over her first
fears, searched for it actively everywhere, and after having turned
the house upside down in her quest, found it in a cupboard
behind the children's bed. This cupboard, being dissimulated by

428 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

tapestry, had never been used, and we did not even know of its
existence.

How had the Virgin got into it ?

The displacements became more and more frequent. For
instance, the statuette took it into its head to change rooms, and
the sitting-room became its favourite resort, but it never let a
whole day pass without reappearing upon its pedestal.

The doors opened and shut before it with the same sharp
sound which followed each evolution. All this went on so
rapidly that we were more surprised than inconvenienced.

Under the influence of these phenomena, the ordinary sleep of
the somnambulist became heavier. At night she was often
heard speaking aloud. She awakened with difficulty, and having
shaken off her torpor, she could not open her eyes. ' They feel
as though they were glued down,' she used to say. But placing
her fingers on Marie's eyelids, Madame Vergniat used to pray,
and the difficulty would disappear.

In her ordinary sleep, the conversation was not serious; it was
more often commonplace, full of jesting, sometimes even of bad
taste ; whereas in provoked sleep, we constantly found a serious
spirit, professing the purest maxims, and giving advice full of
sincere charity.

I asked this mysterious spirit if it were true that he was
Madame's father, as he had once declared himself to be.

Here is his reply, I give it word for word : ' My son, I read
in your mind (for you cannot hide your thoughts from me) that
not having enough faith to attribute to God the happiness of the
visit you receive in your house, you seek its explanation in absurd
suppositions. Do not believe in spiritism^ yny son.

' God, who is essentially good, could not permit your spirit-
friends, after having gone through all the trials of earth, to be
condemned to look on at the turpitudes and the sufferings of
those who are dear to them. This is a torture which God did
not wish to reserve for you.

'Yes, a Spirit exists ; but He is alone, unique, and that Spirit
is mine. It is He who breathes into all things, who animates

APPENDIX C 429

all things j He who makes you act, walk, stop when you believe
that your own will is all-powerful.

'That Spirit, I repeat, is unique. It is the Master's.'

Let us remark, en passant^ that this is the opinion of Mall-
branche, who claims God to be the immediate Author of the
union we admire between soul and body.

' I see that you doubt my words,' added the spirit, '(for I have
already told you that you cannot hide your thoughts or actions
from me), and you are saying, "What presumption ! to suppose
that I have deserved such a visit, and that the Divine Spirit has
knocked at my door ! "

' You prefer, therefore, my son, to doubt my words and to
stand aloof from the truth. So be it ! but do not forget, what-
ever your appreciation may be about me and the object of my
visit, be assured that I am only able to visit your home in
pursuance of a supreme will, and that all your efforts to drive
me away, and even my desire to leave you before the accomplish-
ment of my mission, would be equally useless.

' Welcome me, therefore, as a kind father who comes to help
his son to tread the painful path of life. I have never left you
since you came into the world. We have gone through many
worries together, we have borne many sorrows ; but better times
are at hand, and I am able to reveal to you, my child, that from
the moment I am able to make my voice heard, the blessing
of the Master will assure you the repose of body, soul, and spirit.

' No more worry for you, your father is here to shield you.
But in exchange for the good which my mission is to bring you,
I ask you to turn your thoughts to the Creator, and thank Him
for the immense favour He has accorded you. For, learn that
no man has ever before received such a Visitor in his home.

' I desire you to attend divine service regularly, and to go to
communion.

' I also desire you to help those people whose addresses and
needs I will make known to you ; but as I am a protector, if I
impose charges upon you, I will also procure you the means of
providing for them.'

430 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

Imagine what an influence these mysterious facts already
exercised over me, when I say that I promised everything, and,
like a submissive child, took the communion with fervour.

From that day forth the benevolence of the unknown was
extended over every one and every thing, from the household to
the house needs. His solicitude, for the somnambulist especially,
drove him sometimes to charge me with delicate missions, of
which I will give an example.

I had once just put Marie to sleep, when the spirit manifested
itself, saying : —

' I am going to speak to you about some of the private affairs
of the somnambulist, and I beg you to follow my instructions.

' This girl thinks of marrying a carpenter, named Toussaint,
who has been following her about for a long time. But Marie's
parents, who are honest folk, will never consent to this marriage.
First of all, because Toussaint is a worthless fellow, and in the
second place, because Toussaint's brother was condemned yester-
day to pay an ignominious penalty for a foul crime he has
committed.

'Therefore, Marie must cease to know this young man;
moreover, his jealous and violent character might soon endanger
her life.

' Marie is ignorant of these details. Therefore, when she
awakens, take care not to repeat our conversation ; but to-
morrow, when returning from Bordeaux, tell her about this as
though it were some news you had heard of in town.

'Marie will deny everything, first of all; she will pretend
not to know the individual ; but insist upon it, and she will con-
fess everything.'

And this, in fact, is what happened.

The spirit went on to say : —

' This workman has recently wounded his hand, and is con-
sequently debarred from working ; he is always prowling
about the house, and I advise you to be on your guard against
him.'

Marie often used to ask me to put her to sleep in the evening.

APPENDIX C 431

Then, strange to sav, she would tell us when and how many
times this man Toussaint would pass the door, the next day.

This information was always correct. However, one day,
our man did not turn up at the given time — he was two minutes
late. Marie was asleep in the sitting-room, and I went back-
wards and forwards from her to the terrace. I was nearly
losing patience, when she cried out, ' He is coming — you will
barely have time to get to the terrace.' And so it was ; as
soon as I reached my post of observation, the carpenter came
into the Rue Malbec out of the Rue Begles.

A few days afterwards, the spirit, whom the somnambulist
called ' Grand Father,' warned us that Marie ran a great risk.
Toussaint having had the door shown to him everywhere
because of the disgrace which had fallen upon his family, had
made up his mind to avenge himself.

Animated with the worst designs, he had shaved off his beard
in order to make himself unrecognisable ; and hiding a large
knife under his coat, he was bending his way to the house, with
the fixed purpose, said the spirit, of striking Marie.

When giving us this information through the somnambulist,
our mysterious friend added : ' Do not allow this girl to go out
to-day. I will deliver you from this dangerous man very soon,
by making him wish to go on a long voyage, from which he
will never return.'

Two or three days afterwards, Marie heard that this indi-
vidual had left for Algeria.

First of all we have seen, by the substitution of the spirit to
the faculties of the somnambulist, how our free-will is subordi-
nated to occult influences. And if the objection be made that
in that case, magnetic influences facilitated this substitution
there still remains the case of the carpenter, whose free-will was
absolutely subjugated after premeditation, as is shown by the
spirit's declaration that he would ' make him wish to take a long
voyage from which the individual would never return.'

In proportion as these strange facts succeeded each other,
we yielded further and further to an influence from which it

432 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

was impossible to escape — I may even say we were happy to
obey.

How could we thrust aside advice which was always
thoroughly honest, and with which the name of God was
constantly associated ?

After the somnambulist, Madame Vergniat was the one who
felt the effects of this mysterious atmosphere the most strongly.

For my part, I had, at first, confined myself simply to observ-
ing the phenomena, to accepting them only as a study ; but
under the influence of surprise upon surprise, filled with
admiration, I ended in blind submission. And yet, we were
only at the beginning of our marvellous manifestations.

Often, during a meal, if we had need of something or other,
Marie would bring it to us before we asked for it. A voice,
which she thought was at times mine, at times Madame
Vergniat's, transmitted our desire to her before it was expressed.
It was a splendid case of thought transference.

If the maid's work was not quite properly done, he who
watched over the house so assiduously, punished her immediately^
by removing with remarkable dexterity the foulard she wore on
her head. And if she ever happened to be wanting in politeness
towards us, she was instantly called to order in the same way,
without any consideration for the place or circumstances she
might be in at the moment. I have often seen her foulard
thrown on the ground, to remind her that she should allow us
to pass before her into a carriage, omnibus, etc.

I have also had occasion to witness a very surprising mani-
festation, surprising because of the facility shown for displacing
a piece of furniture the weight of which was relatively con-
siderable.

Often, after retiring to rest, the somnambulist would feel her
bed gently rolled into the centre of the floor, and then back
again to its place. This to-and-fro movement used to be
repeated as often as three or four times in the same evening ;
the movement was slow, we could see distinctly that great mass
moving about under the impulsion of some invisible force.

APPENDIX C 433

The somnambulist, as I said in the beginning, was a big,
stout girl from the Pyrenees. She could neither read nor write,
and the sight of all these supernatural things astounded and
alarmed her. I have remarked that, in her normal state, she
often forgot what she had seen the previous day. But what she
really did understand was that ' Grand Father ' was not satisfied
with her when a crust of bread or some cheese was thrown at her
head ; this was a sure sign that there was a hitch somewhere.

In the vestibule, which we used as a dining-room, a small
Louis XV. lustre was suspended ; it often swayed about when we
sat down to meals, and the movement, which was always pre-
ceded by a rustling on the metal chains, was slow or accelerated
according to my wife's expressed or unexpressed wish.

If we had visitors, everything was so quiet that no one would
ever have suspected what strange things happened to us habit-
ually. It looked as though these manifestations were reserved
for the inmates of the house and for a few privileged guests,
whose attention was, perforce, aroused by the noise.

Two young girls, one Anna , from Perigord, the other

Mathilde , from Bordeaux, who worked almost constantly

in our house, were present at most of these occurrences, and
* Grand Father' even testified much affection for these girls.

In the beginning, I said that when the statuette turned on its
pedestal, the swords had moved about in the contrary direction.
One of them was unhooked and deposited in a corner of the
wall, but in the presence of Madame Vergniat an invisible force
almost immediately put it slowly back again in its place.

The oscillations of the lustre, the movements of the swords,
the displacements of the bed were the only phenomena which
the eye was able to follow ; all the others were so rapid that
they escaped even the most vigilant attention.

Our presence in the house was not necessary to produce noises
and other phenomena. The fact which I am going to relate
contradicts the opinion emitted by some spiritists, that spirits
borrow the force which is indispensable to produce these dis-
placements from the mediums or assistants.

2 E

434 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

We once went to spend a day in the country, talcing the
nurse with us, and leaving the house empty for the day.
Returning in the evening, the neighbours came out to meet us
saying that they feared all our crockery was broken, because
ever since our departure a dreadful noise had reigned in the
house. We searched all the rooms, but no damage had been
done, and everything was in its place.

Where, therefore, in that empty house had the spirit taken
the auxiliary force which we are told is necessary for its
manifestations ?

I was very reserved respecting these facts. I did not care to
noise them abroad, for had I done so controversy would certainly
have arisen.

Another reason for remaining silent was, that once after having
spoken of these events to the member of a reputedly religious
family, the Virgin refused to make any evolution before this
visitor. But scarcely was the incredulous person out of the
house when the statuette was displaced.

The same evening I put Marie to sleep, and reproached the
spirit severely.

'What happens here is for you alone,' he replied, 'and ought
not to be exhibited as a spectacle."'

However, this apparently severe admonition was soon infringed
upon by himself under the following circumstances : —

M. Bossuet, a hairdresser in the Rue Bouffard, at Bordeaux,
was dressing Madame Vergniat's hair in the sitting-room : my
wife heard the sharp rap which usually announced a displacement
of the Virgin. She got up, and without saying anything went
into the room, followed instinctively by M. Bossuet. The
Virgin was balancing herself on the edge of the bracket.
M. Bossuet, quickly understanding what was happening, cried
out in admiration, ^Mon Dieu ! how glad I am to have seen
such a thing ! '

M. Bossuet is dead now ; who can say whether he has found
the solution of the problem which engages us ?

I took advantage of this incident to ask why the Virgin had

1

APPENDIX C 435

moved during M. Bossuet's visit, since it was told me that these
favours were exclusively reserved for the household.

'I choose my company,' replied the spirit, *and I had to
reward M. Bossuet for having patiently reproduced the features
of Christ in some hair.'

I do not know if it be true — though many have since assured
me it is true — that M. Bossuet was the author of such a work.
I confine myself, as a faithful reporter, to recording the reply
which was given me.

Our house had one inconvenience — a very disagreeable one in
winter — that of obliging the maid to cross the garden in order
to open the gate for the milkman, who rang every morning at
daybreak.

We were looking for a combination which might enable us
to avoid this inconvenience, when our kind protector came to
our aid.

This fact is one of the most curious of our long series of
surprising adventures.

Henceforth, when the milkman's cart stopped at the gate and
before he rang, a mysterious power shot back the bolt in the
lock. Then the gate opened, and the milkman placed on the
window-sill the jug of milk, which the domestic took in later on.

Perhaps the milkman thought a special mechanism allowed us
to open the door. However that may be, his imagination was
evidently at work, for he was heard to say aloud, when getting
into his cart, 'All the same, this is a very queer house.'

Sometimes, after having attended vespers either at Sainte-Croix
or at the Vieillards, we used to take a long walk, and often we
returned home tired and impatient to sit down and rest a while.

So that we might not have to wait, an invisible hand used to
knock at the door before we arrived there.

This fact could not be hidden, and our neighbour, Madame
Pardeau, in a good position for observation, laughed at the
attentions shown us.

At about this time there was a strange substitution, one which
would, henceforth, render the intervention of the somnambulist

436 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

unnecessary. Madame Vergniat and I were returning home
after visiting Talence. On the way, my wife turned round
quickly, saying: 'Some one has just called me : twice I heard
a voice say, " Heloise ! Heloise ! " '

From that day forth, Madame Vergniat asked questions
mentally and a foreign voice answered them.

Very soon the voice took the initiative of conversations, and
absorbing Madame Vergniat's faculties, spoke through her.

There was no being deceived ; it was easy to recognise the
same benevolent spirit, which had only changed his dwelling-
place, as it were.

The first recommendation given through Madame Vergniat
was to cease putting Marie to sleep. ' Henceforth you will not
be able to do so, without incurring much unpleasantness.'

But my keen desire to see and to observe everything was so
great, that it got the better of this last advice, and I put the
somnambulist to sleep as usual. Ill came of it. To the charit-
able and benevolent discourses succeeded a dishevelled language,
which I thought I could put an end to by awakening the som-
nambulist ; but it was impossible to do so.

She walked about the room with her eyes closed, crying out :
'I will wake up when it suits me to do so. I am here, and I
want to stay just because my staying annoys you.' Then she
tried to go out to walk about in the garden, and I was obliged
to lock the door.

This scene, which lasted for several hours, took away my wish
for further experimentation with Marie.

From that time, Marie was subjected to several ill-defined
influences during her ordinary sleep ; she spoke aloud, sometimes
she used serious language ; sometimes she seemed to be filled
with mad joy. The former depth and goodness in advice given
through her had disappeared.

Moreover, I was amply compensated by the new situation
which rendered the somnambulist's intervention unnecessary,
and I thought no further of risking the disagreeable scene of
which I have spoken. I may even say that all magnetic

APPENDIX C 437

attempts and experiments with Marie ended here. There was
no further question of them.

Sometimes the spirit when consulted did not answer. Madame
Vergniat would then say, * I speak to him, but he does not reply.'
But he never kept us waiting very long.

The spirit often announced his departure. ' If you have
something to ask me, or to tell me,' he would say, ' be quick,
because I am obliged to go away, and will only be able to
return to-morrow at such and such a time.'

And, until the time indicated had arrived, all questioning was
useless. There were no replies.

Hundreds of times I had had occasion of verifying the exact-
ness of information furnished by means of Marie ; but it re-
mained to me to find out if the information given by the new
channel had the same value.

I had not long to wait before attaining certitude in that
respect.

It was on a winter's evening, the night was pitch dark, it
was pouring in torrents. Returning home from business, the
maid came to tell me that a small Havanese dog, which a
neighbour had kindly given us, had gone astray. As I said, the
weather was fearful, and we could not think of going out to
search for the tiny animal. But, as I appeared to be troubled
about the matter, Madame Vergniat, who so far had said nothing,
raised her head, and addressing me in the peculiar way which
announced an official communication, said, ' So you were really
attached to that little animal ! Very well ! do not be sad, you
will find it again. I see it ; a workman is holding it under his
jacket in a hairdresser's establishment in the Rue Begles (the
little hunchback).'

The information was precise ; given by the somnambulist, I
would not have hesitated believing it ; but I now needed further
proof; therefore, in spite of the weather, I went out in search
of the dog. My quest having led me to the hairdresser's, I
looked timidly in at the window, when the hunchback perceived
me, and called out : ' Do you want something, M. Vergniat ? '

438 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

I replied, * If you should happen to hear that a small Havanese
dog has been found, be kind enough to let me know.'

A workman, who was in the shop, said : ' Five minutes ago I
held it in my jacket trying to warm it. I had picked it up
sopping wet, in a corner of the street, where I dropped it again.'

Some few steps further ofF, I observed a white spot in the
darkness. It was Fleurette crouching down in the shelter of
a doorway.

I returned home triumphantly, carrying the children's happi-
ness with me, as well as the confirmation of the infallibility of
our protector. The influence of this power, which revealed
itself as unlimited, will be easily understood. Always gaining
fresh ground by new supernatural phenomena, its will entirely
superseded ours. What in the beginning it formulated as a
desire, soon became an order. It paid attention to the smallest
details ; designated the necessary provisions for the day and
fixed the prices thereof. If a more important purchase than
usual had to be made, he indicated the shop and price
beforehand.

These facts gave rise to some curious incidents. Thus, for
example, when a shopkeeper charged too high a price. ' Grand
Father,' always at hand, used to whisper to Madame Vergniat,
'Tell that woman her goods only cost her such and such a
price. Offer her so much. That is sufficient profit. . . .'

The shopkeeper, dumfounded, could not deny, and the bargain
would be concluded.

I reveal all these facts without hesitation, persuaded that the
study of such persistent and varied manifestations may help to
lift the mysterious veil surrounding us. Moreover, why should
I hesitate or keep silent ? Have I not seen ? The more incom-
prehensible the facts maybe, the greater the duty to reveal them.

I will, perhaps, be accused of weakness by showing so much
submission to this occult power, which, however, only put forth
the claim of coming from God, and expressed none but honour-
able sentiments. To my accusers, I will reply, ' Go through the
same trial, then I will recognise your right to criticise.*

APPENDIX C 439

As for weakness, this was never one of my failings, unless I
should make an exception for the sentiment, which makes me
bow before the Master — a sentiment I mean to preserve.

I said mv wife and I went regularly to vespers, sometimes at
Talence, sometimes at Sainte-Croix ; but more often at the
Vieillards.

I remember that once when gazing upon these latter poor
creatures, ever at the mercy of public charity, our mysterious
guest confided to us : * Without my visit, my children, that
fate might have been yours.'

In the beginning, I said I had promised to take the com-
munion ; I did so with fervour, so profoundly had these
mysterious facts impressed me ; I carried submission to the
extent of giving up theatres, and all amusements, obeying the
express desire of the unknown.

To make up for this, I was permitted to join every pil-
grimage.

One morning, as I was starting for my office, Madame
Vergniat, with an inspired air, dictated the following order to
me : ' You must send a telegram to Paris this morning, bidding
the agents to sell out 6000 francs worth of French stock at
3 per cent., and buy in 10,000 francs of Italian stock.' He
added : ' Did I not tell you, that when it would please me to
impose an obligation upon you, it would never be at your own
expense ? Now, I have need of a few thousand francs, the use
of which I will point ovit to you when the time comes.'

In spite of the strange things I had already seen, I was
bewildered. Madame Vergniat, although the wife of a stock-
broker, had never interested herself in business affairs, and was
absolutely ignorant of financial combinations.

The terms used to dictate the transaction, indicated that the
operation was planned by a mind accustomed to this kind of
business.

As the advice was not dangerous, and, in case of failure,
would not carry me very far, I telegraphed to Paris without
hesitating. Before I returned home in the evening, I had the

440 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

reply, and wished to communicate it to my mysterious client.
' Useless,' he said to me, ' I know it.'

I took advantage of this circumstance of talking business with
him, with the object of finding out just how far the spirit's
knowledge, in matters of speculation, went.

* Do you know,' I said to him, ' that your transaction is
founded on two liquidations. The Italian stock is in liquidation
for the 15th inst., and the 3 per cent, for the end of the month.'

' I did it purposely. The Italian will be liquidated first, for
the profits thereof are urgently required. Whoever procures
the French stock for the end of the month is destined to offer a
present to his daughter. I will give you a few instructions on
this subject.'

I risked the question : ' You then believe in the rise of the
Italian and fall of the French stock ? '

' Your Father is not one who doubts, who believes, or who
only hopes ; He is always sure, because He is the Master.'

From the day the exchange transaction was made, the two
contrary movements, favourable to the arbitration, were not
belied ; and (an important fact to take note of) every morning,
with mathematical precision, the unknown predicted the stock-
list which the telegraph only brought at four o'clock in the
afternoon.

I wish to insist upon this fact, because some people seem to
question the spirits' possibility of foretelling the future.

Always preoccupied in studying these facts, I sometimes
asked, the evening before, what the rate would be the following
day. ' I cannot tell you before to-morrow morning. I have
need of the night to gather my information.'

One day, there was a difference of a farthing between the
rate predicted in the morning, and the official rate received at
four o'clock. When I made the remark, the unknown said to
me ; ' It was a bad head who rang down the changes at the
stroke of the bell.' The spirit evidently even possessed the
slang of the stockbrokers' ring.

Seeing so much penetration, I meekly asked if he could be

APPENDIX C 441

useful to me in my own business. He replied : ' I did not come
for that ; my visit has another object in view ; nevertheless I
think I can be useful to you, and when the opportunity occurs,
I will not forget.'

This declaration seemed to contradict the first one. At the
outset of these manifestations, the 'Master's' blessing assured
the repose of body, soul, and spirit : ' No more worries for you :
your Father is here to turn them all aside.' There was now a
slight deviation which we cannot help observing.

Let us, however, return to this power of penetration ; it was
such, that, consulted upon the state of my cash-box, he at once
told me how much it contained. For him, it was mere child's
play to tell any one the contents of their purse.

During the arbitration process, I sometimes asked him,
' What profit does your stock operation give you this evening ? '
He mentioned it at once, and, without omitting a farthing, he
even counted brokerage and the price of telegrams.

'Your business afi^airs,' said he, 'should no longer trouble you,
for they are mine. I will look after them : you have only to
obey, and to satisfy me in order to be rewarded.

'You may be sure that nothing would be easier for me than
to load you with riches any day ; and, if I make you wait, it is
because you made me wait a long time before I was able to
bring you to me.'

This is another remark which is not any clearer than the one
I quoted a little while ago.

Whilst the arbitration was proceeding favourably, the Virgin
continued her evolutions ; however, they were soon to cease.

One afternoon she made some evolutions noisier than usual,
and going out of the house, went and placed herself upon some
grape-vines in the garden.

At that moment, one of our former servants, a girl named
Caroline T. . . ., the same who was in our service when the
nocturnal visit occurred, happened to come up to the house ;
seeing the statue in the garden, she and another servant decided
to put it back again on its pedestal.

442 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

It was scarcely replaced when a violent rap resounded, and
the Virgin fell on the ground broken to pieces.

Great was Madame Vergniat's grief when she heard of the
accident. I must own that I, too, was vexed. The debris
were gathered up and preserved with veneration for a long time.

But the pedestal remained vacant. Then the thought came
to me of asking our protector if it would be possible to find a
similar statuette.

'I will see about it to-night,' he replied. The spirit often
begged me to leave him the night for reflection. He said it
was then that he found the necessary information.

The next day, faithful to his promise, he gave me the follow-
ing information : 'There is, in Bordeaux, a Virgin like the one
which is broken. You will find it at a sculptor's in the Rue
Bouquiere (a small shop situated in a corner of the street).
There is only that one specimen, and the tradesman has no
cast.'

I quickly took one of the fragments, and went to the Rue
Bouquiere. I found the shop, and the tradesman told me he had
a Virgin similar to the one I desired, but that he had no cast of
it. '1 will look for it, and you may come and fetch it this
evening.' The same evening I returned to Malbec with the
statuette which was going to stifle all regrets.

My arrival with the statuette was the occasion for another
official communication : ' My son, that Virgin will be displaced.
I will not tell you where I shall carry it to ; she herself will
reveal it to you. Now, as she will go very far away, you must
put your name and address inside the statuette.' This was done.

Placed upon the pedestal, the new Virgin turned round three
times the day after her arrival ; since that day she never stirred.

I do not know if she will ever go on this journey ; in any
case, she is a long time making her preparations.

All the incidents touching the statuette end here : the circum-
stances of the annee terrible caused it to pass into other hands.

We said that the stock transaction was going on better and
better. And with his facility to foretell the future, the unknown

APPENDIX C 443

sold out the Italian stock at the highest rate, whilst he waited
for several days to buy back his 3 per cent, favourably.

All this was done with astounding precision ; with a power
equal to his, fortune was simply without bounds.

The profits of these two transactions amounted to about
three thousand francs. With the funds resulting from the
liquidation of the 15th I was given the mission to reserve one
thousand francs for the father of a large family. And the
souvenir of this good action, for which, in a way, 1 was but an
agent, rejoices me still.

Other less important distributions were ordered to be made.

Finally, to crown everything, we were told to illuminate our
garden in honour of the Virgin.

The profits of the second liquidation followed afterwards, and
gave rise to a curious incident.

On pay-day, when the profits were at the disposition of the
mysterious spirit, he begged me to return to Bordeaux to buy a
piano, which he offered to my daughter. (This was the ' present '
which had been spoken of in the beginning of these bourse
transactions.)

' Go,' he said, ' to M. Caudere's, Allees de Tourny, No. 50,
where you will buy a second-hand piano ; you will be asked six
hundred and fifty francs for it.'

Upon making the remark that I needed precise indications in
order to avoid all confusion, he replied : * It is not necessary. I
will be there to see that they offer you the piano I want. You
will not be obliged to bargain, for the price is less than the value
of the instrument.'

How could I resist the commands of such a kind-hearted
friend, whose power seemed to have no other limit than that of
his will ?

Moreover, was it my province to discuss the manner of
employing money which did not belong to me ?

Therefore I arrived at Allees de Tourny. Madame Caudere
was alone in the shop. I followed my instructions, and was offered
a second-hand piano for six hundred francs. It was fifty francs

444 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

below the stated price. I hesitated taking it, but, remembering
his own words, ' / will be there^ I concluded the bargain on the
express condition that the instrument might be delivered the
same evening, according to our benefactor's will.

I arrived home quickly, impatient to have an explanation
concerning the fifty francs.

It was the first time I had observed an irregularity, and as my
submission was only the result of an infallibility which, until
then, had never been belied, the absolute and regular continua-
tion of these facts was required in order to keep up that blind
confidence which already impaired so seriously my free will.

It was with almost a triumphant air I announced that the
piano had only cost six hundred francs.

' I know it,' said the unknown ; ' but Madame made a mistake.'

On the morrow, when settling the account, the shopkeeper
said to me : ' You got a bargain yesterday ; my wife made a
mistake in selling you for six hundred francs a piano I had fixed
at six hundred and fifty.'

Absorbed in these supernatural incidents, I did not think of
replying. I walked slowly home wrapped in thought. I related
to the mysterious being what had happened to me at the piano-
shop.

If my mystical preoccupations had made me forget my duty
for an instant, he was not long in recalling it to me.

' I apprised you of it,' he answered. I understood, and brought
back the fifty francs to the tradesman, not caring to benefit by
a mistake.

At that time my daughter's musical knowledge was limited to
the ' Bon Rot Dagohert^ and yet, when she sat down to the piano,
her fingers, yielding to some mysterious influence, moved in-
voluntarily over the piano, and played unknown airs whose
accompaniments were in accordance with all the rules of
harmony.

Convinced that the child was playing from memory, the
pianoforte-tuner complimented her upon her musical dispositions.

This phenomenon was only produced three or four times ; it

APPENDIX C 445

is true, I always took care to take the child away from the piano
as soon as I suspected the approach of the influence.

The stock transaction accomplished, other business, patronised
and advised by the protector, succeeded as well as the first. The
object was always charity. These operations were not important ;
but for all that, their results increased the importance of the
help every day.

The spirit had reserved to himself the right of designating the
persons he wished to help. Sometimes he indicated the name,
but more often he confined himself to mentioning the street,
the number, and flat.

I remember one Sunday, while breakfasting, I was suddenly
told to go immediately and visit a family living in a tiny house
behind the Rue Fran^ois-de-Sourdis. It was a long way off,
and notwithstanding the indications given me, I went up and
down several streets in that quarter of the town in vain, and I
returned without having been able to fulfil my mission.

'You must go back again,' said the unknown, 'and before
breakfasting ; for you yourself can wait ; but it is not the same
there, where the children are hungry . . . ! '

Every morning, when leaving home to go to my office, I was
commissioned to do a good work. ' In such and such a street,
at such and such a number and flat, at the door to the right, etc.,
lives a widow ; you will give her five francs, or ten francs, and
so forth. . . .'

In the beginning, fearing to be led astray, these missions
made me feel rather uncomfortable, especially when he sent me
to places where there was no apparent misery ; but he never
made a mistake.

To provide for these distributions, and carry out certain
religious projects, which he acknowledged to me — such, for
example, as the erection of a chapel on the ground of ' Malbec,'
in order to perpetuate the memory of his visit — to provide, I
say, for so much expense, he considerably increased the figure
of his operations.

It is true that an affair undertaken by his order always the

446 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

same evening gave good results. And it w^as necessary it should
be rigorously so, if he w^ished to maintain the blind confidence
he seemed so desirous of preserving.

It was then that he changed his tactics. Instead of talcing
his profits at each liquidation, he now opposed himself to any
realisation whatsoever.

In the face of such a dangerous system, I timidly risked some
remarks : —

' No one could guide me better than you do, and I would be
already too rich if, as before, you took advantage of every fluctua-
tion of the market, instead of opposing yourself to the realisation
of the profits. It is true there is a large margin on your pur-
chases, but our prosperity is only artificial, since it is but the
result of recharges and not of liquidated operations. That is to
say, by this system we are constantly laying ourselves open to
emergencies.'

It was also under this mysterious inspiration that I then took
an engagement to buy out the interest of my sleeping partners.

Always under the same guidance, our business affairs rapidly
created an opulent position for me. The upward movement of
stocks continued, and if at times a slight reaction arose, it could
only touch a small part of the profits already acquired, and con-
stantly carried over.

The dangerous system of non-realisation, we see, had not
been abandoned.

I often complained.

It was thus that on the ist January 1870 (a Sunday, I think),
the Coulisse having quoted on the boulevards 75*05 francs, and
this rate assuring us a profit of 30,000 francs on one affair alone,
I implored him to consent to realising. He refused energetically,
saying, ' Money-jobbing does not suit me, I have put you in a
position which will be your last affair.' Moreover, he affected
a great dislike to my profession, saying he desired to see me
leave it as speedily as possible.

Sometimes the spirit dropped certain exclamations, aside, as it
were, the most frequent of which was, ' What a struggle I *

APPENDIX C 447

I paid no attention to this, and it was only after the tragic
denouement of this affair that the souvenir of these exclamations,
although so frequently repeated, came back to my memory.

The circumstances which follow sadly demonstrate that during
two and a half years the aim, so patiently followed, was simply
to bribe my confidence with strange revelations, and to keep me
under his thumb.

This result obtained, he had only to use influence in order to
keep me in a position whose importance could not help being
fatal, in view of coming events, and which the unknown's power
of penetration permitted him to foresee.

It was in the midst of all this, in a way, borrowed prosperity,
since it only resulted from non-realised operations, that I took
possession of my new residence. Rue d'Enghien, No. ii.

For several months, although it was impossible for stock to
rise above seventy-five francs, faithful to his system, the unknown
refused to sell out.

It was therefore necessary to continue. But could I com-
plain if funds reinained stationary ? The profits entered into
cash as a consequence of the rise of stocks, which seemed a suffi-
cient guarantee against any event whatsoever.

Moreover, it seemed to me mean to reproach him with not
giving me more, when I owed him already such unhoped-for
prosperity.

My tranquillity was, therefore, absolute when complications
with Germany broke out. Then, from the first day, I wished
to liquidate.

' There, are your fears beginning again as at the time of the
Luxembourg incident ? Believe him who is the Master, and
who for nearly three years has never deceived you.'

Notwithstanding his affirmations, two days afterwards war
was decided, and in taking possession of the telegraph lines, the
light-hearted minister put the finishing-stroke to my ruin, for it
placed me in the impossibility of communicating, and therefore
of limiting my loss.

Whatever may be the danger of a struggle, we succumb with

448 METAPSYCHICAL PHENOMENA

less regret when we have fought on equal terms ; but here,
without speaking of the strange circumstances, the suppression
of telegraphic communication placed me in the position of a
man bound hand and foot, who is thrown into the sea and
reproached for not swimming.

In this critical moment, the unknown was absolutely dumb.
He answered none of the questions I asked him. And yet the
situation was most critical ; for twenty years of labour dis-
appeared into the gulf, and, moreover, to this material loss was
added the grief of being forced to remain separated from my
daughter, who was dangerously ill.

A last explanation took place: 'There, then,' I said to him,
' here is what you have brought me to, and I do not know who
you are ; I only know that you have appealed to honourable
sentiments, in order to make me your dupe, and that you have
not hesitated using the name of God when laying your snares.'

I was too irritated to heed his reply ; and I have only a vague
souvenir of the word ' trials ' faltered out in answer to my
upbraidings.

Thus ends this long and sad 'story.'

I have given this curious self-observation in extenso. The
personification is liable to errors which may be dangerous if we
abandon ourselves to its direction, as too many people are
tempted to do.

The extraordinary facts with which Madame Vergniat's life
was filled are not confined to those just related ; she appears to
have possessed supernormal faculties right up to the last. It might
be of considerable interest if her family would give a detailed
account of her life.

PrinteH by T, and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 9999 05676 985 2